The Shadows in my Heart
by Devilish or Kittenish
Summary: A young woman has joined Fairy Tail. She's been through a lot during her seventeen years of life, but tries to start over with her new guild.
1. Chapter 1

A teenaged girl walked through the roads of Magnolia. She had a backpack swung over her shoulders and a map in her hand.

She stared at the map, following it, and not looking where she was going.

The girl halted suddenly. She looked up from the map to see a three story building with a large red banner. The banner had an orange silhouette of what looked to be a fairy with a tail.

The girl smiled wide, her eyes sparkling excitedly.

A little shy -but more anxious- the teenager opened the door with a creak. She saw an uncountable amount of wizards drinking booze, eating, and talking. Her heart raced as she stepped across the threshold.

The girl closed the door behind her after walking in. She still had the map rolled up and clutched in one hand as she made her way to the bar.

There was a young woman with white hair and large blue eyes that held a serving tray to her chest. Sitting on the top of the bar was a short, elderly man wearing orange and blue clothing.

"Excuse me?" The girl asked, trying to hide her excitement. She hoped either of the two would respond.

"Yes? How can we help you?" The girl with white hair asked. Her bangs were tied up on a short ponytail that resembled a unicorn's horn. It reminded the girl of one, at least. Her red dress with a sweetheart neckline complimented her complexion too.

"Well, I'm not sure how it works, but…" _Oh come on! I've dealt with scarier things than talking to a famous guild_ , "I… actually wanted to join Fairy Tail!"

The old man stopped sipping his cup of booze. He looked up at the teenager, "I have a few questions before you join."

The girl assumed this would determine if she was qualified or not.

"First you should know that I'm Makarov; Guild master of Fairy Tail. Now, what's your name?"

"Call me Lyla." The teenage girl replied.

"Okay, Lyla, what type of magic do you use?"

"I can use Shadow Magic. I'm quite good at what I do." Lyla smirked, not that they could see. She was still wearing her black mask if cloth, a habit she had developed.

"So you feel like you have what it takes to be a wizard, then?"

"Yup!" Her voice was determinedly cheerful.

"Last question," Makarov told Lyla, his face darkened, "Will you treat Fairy Tail as if it were your own home treat your guildmates as if they were your brothers and sisters? Will you stay and fight to protect your home and family here?"

Technically that was three questions, but they all had the same answer, "Absolutely." She meant it with her entire being.

Makarov's face light up, grinning ear-to-ear, "Welcome to Fairy Tail, Lyla!"

The woman with white hair already had a stamp with the guild's mark in her hands.

"Where would you like you mark?" She asked, her voice extremely high pitched and friendly.

"I would like it on my heart." Lyla said. Her black shirt was skin tight, and the collar came up to her neck, so she fearlessly lifted the bottom of her shirt instead, not caring that others were around. Not that anyone behind her could see under the shirt.

The woman stamped a black Fairy Tail mark where Lyla's heart would be.

The whole guild cheered with joy over their new member. They must have been watching the whole scene.

"So, we have a new member, huh?" A man's voice asked, silencing the rest of the guild hall. His voice was somewhat irritating.

The man stood in a battle stance, "Fight me! Let's see what you got!" He told Lyla. The man had pink hair and a white, scale-like muffler around his neck.

"Are you serious?!" A woman with blonde hair and brown eyes exclaimed, "She's just a girl!" The new member was indeed smaller than the others, as if she was younger.

"That's okay." Lyla said to the blonde, "I can handle him."

The man with pink hair smirked, his fists lit up on fire.

 _Fire magic, Huh?_ Lyla thought. The man ran at her, but she just stood there.

Last second, Lyla leapt up in the air with a backflip. The man was directly underneath her when her foot circled around and kicked him in the face. He fell backwards, holding his jaw.

"Owwww!" He cried.

"It didn't hurt _that_ much, you baby." Lyla told him, smiling, "I barely touched you!" She was excited for a new place.

"You bruised my jaw!" The man whined. Maybe he wasn't much of a man.

"Well…" She glanced nervously at her boots. "My boots _do_ have metal soles… Let me see." In an instant, the confidant wizard had been replaced by a nervous teenager.

The pinkette removed his hand, showing a large red spot on his jaw. "You're okay, right?" She was clanking her metal covered gloves together, obviously anxious.

"Uh…" The male wizard was confused by the sudden change.

"Don't worry about it," The same blonde girl, who had spoken up for her earlier, said. "Natsu's just making a big fuss. He's been hurt worse and been fine to fight a second later."

"Thank goodness." She relaxed, her hands dropping to her sides. "I forgot I was wearing these boots."

"Why are you wearing metal covered gloves and shoes anyway?" The man, Natsu, asked directly.

"Because I am." She glared at him. He was rude.

"A new member calls for celebration!" Makarov yelled to change the subject. Instantly, the swarm of wizards began to crowd the girl.

"Eep!" She squeaked as she was surrounded. It was tightly packed, but comfortable. She beamed with joy, feeling welcome. She felt at peace, as if she had come home. Maybe she had, but whatever the feeling was, she ignored it for now and celebrated. For the first time in too long, she laughed. It was a joyous sound that mingled with others.

 _Home_ , she thought, _This is my family._

The guild -her new home- had continued to celebrate her arrival well into the night. Many were passed out on tables, drunk. The girl herself was exhausted, but still glowing with happiness. No one had ever welcomed like this. Sure, Yajima had welcomed her, but it was different.

"Where are you sleeping tonight Lyla?" The woman with white hair asked, who Lyla learned was named Mirajane.

"Uh… I just got into town today, so I really don't know…" She trailed off, nervously tapping her gloves against the bar. Her stomach grumbled loudly.

"You can stay with me for now. At least until you find your own place," Lucy, who sat beside her, offered, "I just joined Fairy Tail a little while back, so I know it can be a little hectic to join the guild all of a sudden."

She was the blonde who was concerned for Lyla when Natsu picked a fight with her.

"Then I'll help you find a place to stay tomorrow." Mirajane chimed, clapping her hands gaily. "That way you'll be taken care of!"

"You'd do that for me?" The brunette girl looked close to tears as she asked that.

"There's no need to cry. We're just being nice." The blonde patted the other teen's back.

"I'm not crying." The girl sounded horrified at the thought.

"Ok. But, how old are you? I need to know so we can find a good place for you to live." Mira told the girl.

"I'm around seventeen or so." The masked teen shrugged.

"What do you mean 'or so'?" Lucy prodded carefully.

"I'm an orphan so I don't actually know my age or birthday." Lyla shrugged, unfazed. "It's nothing major. I've never really had to worry about it."

"That's so sad…" Mira sniffed.

"It's fine. You grow use to it after so long," Lyla said to young woman.

Her stomach suddenly growled again. This time loud enough to be heard.

"We can go to my apartment and get some food if you'd like?" Lucy offered.

"Please?"

"Then let's go!"

Lucy chattered to her new companion the entire way, walking on the edge of the canal. The other, silent girl followed suit, balancing on the edge with ease.

"Be careful, Lucy-sama!" A man riding in a boat called out. "It's late and you could fall in. And your friend too."

"We will." The bright wizard called back. Not too long after, they came to Lucy's apartment.

"Go ahead and grab whatever from the fridge. I'll set up a spot to sleep in. You can have my bed for now." The blonde girl directed as they entered the small apartment.

"I can sleep wherever. I really don't want to take your bed…" Lyla murmured, taking in the apartment.

The wallpaper was a tan rose color, covered in circles. Directly in front of them was a fake potted plant beside a dresser with pictures and a chest in front of the window. In the corner was a smaller, white drawer stand beside a matching vanity.

Underneath the window on the far wall, was a plain bed with two pillows and a large pink comforter. In the corner was a desk that was covered in papers and a second fake plant. Beside it, a curtained doorway, and further over, a bookshelf. In the center of the yellow carpet was a dining room table with three chairs beside a small coffee table and armchair. To the left of the doorway was more bookshelves and in the corner, a furnace and fridge, side-by-side.

"You have a nice apartment…" The brunette walked over to the fridge and opened it.

"Thanks, but where will you sleep if you won't take the bed?" Lucy asked

"I'll just take the floor." Lyla was gnawing on a piece of bread from the cabinets. "Just need a blanket." She began rummaging around her backpack. After quite some time, she pulled out a ragged blanket and a tiny, flat pillow. "I'll sleep at the foot of your bed if that's all right?"

"Sure, that's fine, but here." A larger pillow was handed to the girl. "I don't have any spare blankets, but at least your head will be comfy!" They got ready for bed and turned off the overhead light.

Lyla slowly drifted off -her mask still in place- as she thought about how to live her new life.

A/N: Hi! I'm back with the reboot. I'm sorry it took so long, but I'll try to remember! For now, enjoy what we've gotten done so far. Me and my friend have worked hard on this. I'll update this every monday. Well... I'll try to.


	2. Chapter 2

Lyla had woken up early. She put on her iron armoured gloves, black-purple boots with metal soles and buckles, then went into the bathroom of the apartment to brush her light, strawberry caramel hair. It didn't take that long since her wavy hair only brushed her shoulders.

In the mirror, her hair covered her right eye completely, then her black cloth mask. She had a skin tight, long sleeved, black shirt with a collar all the way up her neck. Just as tight black stockings reached up to her thighs, covering the skin that her dark denim shorts didn't.

She hurried to the guild to get the better jobs. The quicker she earned money, the quicker she could move out of Lucy's place.

Yes, she was grateful to have a place to stay, but having a roommate can be so bothersome. You have to share such a small place, then everything in the small place. Lucy and the other girls seemed a little too nice for Lyla's tastes, as well.

Lyla arrived at the guild the exact second they opened. Makarov and Mirajane were already there.

"Hi, Lyla!" Mirajane greeted with her usual glass shattering, high pitched voice, "What brings you here so early?"

"Just came for a quick job." She said, slipping through the small crack between the doors and examining the job board.

Fighting monsters, capturing thieves, retrieving items, even getting a cat out of a tree. They all seemed to boring. Specifically, too easy.

"Any ones that have a higher pay?" Lyla turned to ask Mirajane.

"Only the S-class quests upstairs, but you can't go without an S-class wizard."

 _Too bad.._ "I guess I'll take this one." Lyla ripped off a paper and showed it to Mirajane. It said she had to catch some thieves who stole trains and then valuables from the passengers on board.

The reward was 100,000 jewel, and it was simple enough, so Lyla should finish around midday. It depended on how cooperative the thieves would be...

Lyla waited at a train station in Hargeon: a town a short ways south of Magnolia. After learning which specific train was going to be stolen from the person who posted the quest, Lyla tracked it down easily and knew it would be arriving at the station here in Hargeon in a few minutes.

There weren't really any rich folk at the station. The town is more known for fishing than anything else. There was a businessman that wore and expensive suit and watch. Other than that, it was mainly women's jewelry that had any worth.

Lyla could hear a train's engine coming closer. With two whistles, the train screeched to a stop at the station.

People started boarding, including Lyla. A few people gave her looks, but took nothing much of it. It was most likely her black clothing and mask. It would be easy for someone to mistake _her_ as a thief.

Technically…

Lyla took a seat at an empty booth. She waited for the train to start before standing up and exploring the train carts.

She made her way to the front. At least _one_ of the thieves would have to be there to drive this thing, and she was right.

Lyla stood there, the man still unaware of the wizard behind him. He turned his head just as a swarm of lances pinned him to the ground.

Lyla walked forward, the lances a result of her magic. She bend down and lifted the thief's head so he would be able to look at her.

"Now, where are your friends?" She asked in a low voice.

The thief managed to stutter, "P-probably st-st-stealing from the passengers alr-ready!"

Lyla stood up, released the lances. As she walked out, she created a prison cell made from shadow for the thief to nap in.

Yep, the others were stealing from each train cart. Lyla could hear the screams from the end if the train.

She bolted through each cart until reaching the first one with passengers taking of valuables and handing it to a man with his face covered by cloth.

Lyla ran up and punched him square in the jaw, then pinned him to the ground.

"Stay there." She ordered, standing up while holding her hand of shadow magic to his face.

She ran to the other cart, creating rope of shadows to tie the second thief.

She continued through each cart until a total of five thieves were caught. She gathered them all up to the front.

"TRAIN!" The thieves shouted in horror. Lyla whipped around to see a second train heading for them.

She stared at the controls, confused, "How do you drive a train?!"

"Like hell, I'm telling the person who nearly stabbed me with spears." The first thief she caught replied bitterly.

With a growl, Lyla pulled him to her by his shirt collar, "You wanna die by a train crash or not! I'm trying to save your stupid life here!"

He replied with a scream directed towards the second train several yards away.

"Dammit!" Lyla shouted, "Hold on!" She jumped out the left side of the cart, hanging on with her arm holding on to the door.

With only minutes until they collided with the other train, the girl nimbly climbed to the front of the train. She stood, balancing on the front, and held out her glowing hands. Two sets of black and purple train tracks appeared, guiding the two trains away from each other. They floated in air as they continued to speed along, more track appearing as needed.

When the last train carts of the two train passed each other, Lyla moved the shadow tracks of the second train to place it back on the real tracks. She then concentrated on placing the train she was about to fall off of back on the tracks.

Within moments, Lyla managed to dispel her shadow magic.

The speeding vehicle teetered a bit before returning to a smooth ride.

Panting and covered in sweat from an adrenaline rush, she climbed back into the train.

"Sh-she's a little scary…" Lyla heard one thief murmur, terrified.

"Yeah… A-and she's s-so tiny!" Another's voice shook. "How old c-could she be?"

"It's not nice to ask about a girl's age..." Lyla gave them a cold stare. The only sounds they made now were whimpers.

Lyla ignored them and moved to check on the passenger's, slamming the door open.

"Everyone okay?" She asked to the passengers. They all nodded and assured her they were fine, even though some were still dizzy and clutching onto their seats as if their lives depended on it.

Later, Lyla stopped the train at the next stop, which was conveniently at Magnolia, and turned in the thieves to authorities. They did the rest, making sure the passengers were safe and finding a real conductor to drive the train.

Exhausted from the amount of magic she had used, Lyla needed to rest. Key word: needed.

Despite that, she went to get some food at Fairy Tail. When she got there, Lucy and the fire boy weren't at the guild hall.

"Hey, Mirajane." Lyla called to the woman, "Where's Lucy and that uh...that guy who tried to fight me yesterday?"

"You mean Natsu?" Mirajane asked back.

"Yeah, that guy."

"They went to stop some members from the Eisenwald guild with Gray and Erza. It shouldn't take long since they're some of the most powerful wizards in the guild." Mirajane explained.

"Oh, really?" That meant Lyla could take another job and be back before them. It would be a good opportunity to get some money without being bothered by anyone.

She went back to the request board, examining each job.

"I'll take this one." She told Mirajane, showing her the paper.

"Alright! I'll write down that the job has been taken already."


	3. Chapter 3

Lyla soaked in the tub, letting the ends of her hair float on the surface of the steaming water. It was nice; relaxing. After all the jobs she took, she needed a nice, long bath to ease her nerves. She had completed a lot jobs yesterday, but the pay was meager.

It felt like she'd been in for a while. When her hands and feet turned into prunes, Lyla decided to get out and empty the tub.

She wrapped a white towel around herself, her clothes neatly folded and stacked on the countertop.

Looking in the mirror, she could see the scar going across the right side of her face, starting just below her hairline and going straight down to beside her mouth. It cut directly through her right eye.

Some of her eye could be seen behind the tangled strands of wet hair. The black sclera used to scare her as a child, but she had gotten used to it.

Lyla quickly towel dried her hair and got dressed in the same outfit as yesterday. She had multiple pairs of the same clothing, except for her boots and gloves.

She began brushing the knots out of her hair when Lyla heard Lucy's voice shout in fear, "Breaking and entering!"

Lyla dropped her hairbrush and swung the curtains open to see the commotion. She had her hand glowing with shadow magic, in preparation for a fight.

Lucy had kicked a half naked man with black hair, and chain necklace around his neck, and a blue Fairy Tail emblem on his chest.

"Who the hell is this?!" Lyla asked in aggression.

"Lyla!" Lucy said, "This is… Gray…" She seemed ashamed to know him, and Lyla could tell why. This guy only had his black underwear on!

"Don't suppose you have any clothes I could wear?" Gray asked, walking to Lyla and holding out his hand for a handshake.

"Are you crazy!? Get out!" Lyla ordered the man, punching him in the abs with her iron armoured gloves. He fell to the floor, wheezing.

"Oh my goodness!" Lyla gasped, "I forgot I was wearing my gloves!"

"Anyway…" Gray stood up once he had caught his breath, wincing slightly, "I came to remind you in case you've forgotten. Today's the day you know."

"What day?" Lucy asked. Lyla was thinking the same thing.

"See, you _did_ forget…" Gray said, "Remember what Natsu said before we left?"

"Wait, the fire guy said what before you left for where?" Lyla asked, she was completely lost.

"Before we left to fight Eisenwald…" Lucy had connected the dots, "Natsu challenged Erza to a fight!" The blonde bolted out the door, Gray following.

"Better come if you want to see Natsu's butt get kicked!" He told Lyla before rushing out the apartment.

Fire boy already got his butt kicked by Lyla when she arrived two days ago. Did she really need to see that again?

Lyla took an apple from the fridge, lowering her mask to take a bite.

Well, she needed to go to the guild and find a job anyway. She could watch whatever was left of the fight when she got there.

Lucy shoved past multiple guild mates to see Natsu and Erza surrounded by the circle of Fairy Tail wizards. Lyla walked incredibly fast, so she was able to catch up before anything really started. She watched the fight from behind all the chaos.

The redhead woman wearing an armour top and blue cloth skirt used magic to change her outfit into black and orange-gold armour. Lyla assumed this was the Erza people kept referring to.

She read about an Erza in Sorcerer's Weekly magazines. Lyla didn't read magazines often, but she always came across an article or two about powerful wizards. She skipped all the bikini pictures female models would wear, though. Not her style.

"Flame Empress armour, huh?" Natsu asked in confidence lighting his hand with his fire magic, "That's perfect! Now I can go all out without any hesitation!"

"Begin!" Master Makarov announced.

Lyla watched as Natsu charged Erza with two fists of flames. Erza unsheathed her sword with lightning speed. The two clashed, then again.

Natsu took a deep breath in and breathed out a stream of fire. Lyla hadn't seen fire magic like _that_ before! Then again, she hadn't really seen fire magic. She'd only read about it in books.

Erza swiftly dodged Natsu's attack. The fire wizard casted more spells, the female wizard blocked them, then sent out her own.

There was a sudden sound somewhat resembling a gong. Natsu and Erza froze into statues. Lyla whipped around to see a frog walking as a human. She was dressed in clothing that stated the frog worked for the Magic Council.

"That's enough." The frog said.

Everyone fell silent. The black clothed wizard melted into the crowd.

"Everyone stay where you are," she continued. "I am an emissary from the Magic Council."

Guild members exclaimed in shock that anything related to the council came all the way to Magnolia. Lyla kept quiet, keeping a cold look in her eyes. If the council was involved, someone was in trouble… maybe...

"For eleven crimes committed during the recent Eisenwald incident, including destruction of property…" The frog continued, "Erza Scarlet, you are hereby under arrest."

"Wh-what?!" Natsu exclaimed in surprised fury.

Yeah, someone was in trouble, but for such common things that are usually glossed over. She should know.

The frog took Erza away. Furious, Natsu ran after them, but the guild stopped him. A man with blue hair and the man's son went after Natsu as he made a second attempt save Erza.

Eventually, the young boy found Natsu and told the guild his father turned him into a salamander to keep him from running off again.

They trapped Natsu by placing a cup over him on the guild hall's bar table.

From there, everyone sat in gloomy silence. Lyla had no sympathy for Erza like the rest. The council had some other motive for arresting Erza than justice.

Lucy, Gray, and Natsu caused just as much damage according to what they told the guild, and what Lucy told Lyla when she got home. There's no way the Magic Council would only arrest Erza for damages if the rest of the group destroyed as much as her.

"Let me out! Let me outta here!" Natsu begged, scratching the glass cup that trapped him inside.

"Be quiet, Natsu." Mirajane told him in a melancholy tone.

"Let me out!"

"You'll go on a rampage if we do."

"No, I won't! Turn me back to normal!"

"If we do, you'll say, 'I'm gonna go save her!'" Mirajane leaned down so she could talk to Natsu face-to-face.

"It's the council we're talking about. There's nothing we can do." Gray spoke out.

"I'll give 'em a piece of my mind!"

"If the council says you're guilty, you're guilty, even if you're innocent."

"Sad." Lyla chimned in, pushing herself off the wall she leaned against, "Their word is only law because no one has the courage to say otherwise. If it weren't for their power, we would've fought back and let Salamander go after them."

"It's not wise to speak that way, Child." Makarov said to Lyla.

"I'm stating the truth here." She mumbled, barely audible to anyone but her. _Not that the council would care-or anyone else…-they've heard me before._

Lucy stood up from her seat, "We can't ignore this after all! Let's go testify!"

"Hold on, now!" Makarov shouted.

"How can you say that?! She was unlawfully arrested! We need to get there before they reached a verdict!"

"Oh, that won't be a problem." Lyla said.

"Let me out! Let me out!" Natsu continued to beg.

"What do you mean 'That won't be a problem?!'" Lucy bit back, agitated.

"Well…"

Makarov blasted Natsu with his magic as a result to their own conversation. After the dust cleared, the salamander turned into the man with blue hair.

"That's why." Lyla said casually.

"Macao!" So that was the man's name.

"S-Sorry. I owed Natsu a favor..." Macao replied sheepishly.

"It's obvious he turned into the lizard to take Natsu's place." Lyla stated, "Where did you guys think he went after finding that fire breathing lunatic?"

"You knew this and didn't tell us?!" Lucy seemed outraged.

"Honestly, it was just a hunch." Lyla shrugged, "I needed to make sure before I said anything."

"Don't tell me he went after Erza!" Gray wanted an answer from Macao.

"Yes, probably."

"You gotta be kidding me!" A large man with white hair exclaimed, "I can just see him trying to beat up the council!"

"All of you stay quiet!" The master ordered, "Just wait quietly and see how it turns out."

And so they did. A few hours later, Natsu and Erza returned perfectly fine. The salamander spent the rest if his time loony from being in a prison cell for the first time. At least his time there didn't last several weeks…

"I can't believe it's was a symbolic arrest. I worried for nothing…" Lucy murmured in defeat, laying her head on the table.

Lyla's eyes started to feel heavy. Maybe it was just lack of sleep from all the jobs she did yesterday… She closed her eyes. When she opened them, she had fallen onto the wooden floor, her hair messily sprawled all over and around her face.

She lifted herself up, brushing her bangs neatly over her right eye to make sure it's covered.

"Mystogan?" Lyla overheard Lucy ask.

"He's in the running for strongest man in Fairy Tail." The largest, white haired man explained. It would probably help Lyla to learn at least a handful of her guildmates' names.

"For whatever reason, he doesn't want anyone to see him." Gray added, "So he puts everyone to sleep like this whenever he takes a job."

"Are you serious?! That's way suspicious!" Lucy exclaimed.

"Not really." Lyla interjected, "Some people just like to keep a low profile. It's usually for personal reasons."

"Oh, right…" The blonde guiltily replied, being reminded no one knew her own roommate's face.

"No one but our master knows what Mystogan looks like. We don't know what you look like either, Lyla." Gray said.

"No." A new voice said, "I do." He obviously meant that Mystogan character.

Everyone looked up to see a muscular young man with blonde hair blue eyes, and a lightning bolt shaped scar over his right eye.

"Laxus!"

"This is rare!"

The man, Laxus, leaned over the wooden railing keeping people from upstairs falling down. Everyone crowded around from below.

"Another candidate for the strongest member." Gray stated.

The guy did look tough, but Lyla couldn't judge his power based off of looks alone. He did seem very interesting too.

"Mystogan is shy. Don't get too nosy." Laxus said.

"Laxus! Fight me!" Natsu shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Does he do this with everyone?" Lyla asked under her breath.

"Only those who've beat him before, and sometimes new members," Mirajane answered.

"You don't stand a chance against me if you can't even beat mere Erza." Laxus grinned devilishly. Lyla could tell this guy would be trouble. She hated people with big egos, mainly because she can sometimes have one herself. It was not fun to come down from it.

"What does that mean?!" Fury wasn't a strong enough word to describe Erza at the moment.

"Woah, calm down, Erza…"

"I mean that _I'm_ the strongest!" Laxus claimed.

"Come down here, you jerk!" Natsu ordered.

"You come up."

"Fine by me!"

Natsu jumped from one table to the next. When he neared the stairs, Makarov used magic to stretch his arm out and grow his fist to squash the salamander like a bug.

"You're not allowed on the second floor!" He reminded, "Not yet!"

"Got yourself in trouble."

"Laxus, that's enough out of you!"

"I won't let anyone take the title of Fairy Tail's strongest! Not even Erza or Mystogan!" Laxus pointed to himself as he repeated, " _I'm_ the strongest!"

Lyla growled, irritated by the inane fighting, "Unless you three actually compared power and skill, _no one_ has the title of being Fairy Tail's strongest member!"

"There's no need for comparison! Everyone knows I'm the strongest! Unless you want to prove it!"

"I would, but I'm afraid I might crush your ego," Lyla spat.

"Tch. You're just some little girl." Laxus turned around to walk away. He stopped when a small mass of shadow magic skimmed his cheek. He whipped around to see the puny child giving him a cold stare.

"Bastard." Lyla rumbled. She took off her mask to show bolt boy her pissed off scowl. He was the only one to see her cold face.

"Call me 'little' again and I won't miss," she promised darkly.

Tension filling the room, Laxus walked away, out of sight from those downstairs. The guild took a few seconds to soak in the scene before murmuring to each other. They slowly worked their way back to drunken stories and friendly banter.

By nightfall, all but Lyla, Lucy, and Mirajane remained in the guild hall. Lyla stood in front of the request board in search of high paying jobs. She needed to move out before it became a burden.

"Why can't we go up to the second floor?" Lucy asked Mirajane at the bar.

The woman answered, "It's still a bit too soon for you, but the request board on the second floor has jobs far more difficult than the ones on the first floor. S-Class quests."

Lyla decided to listen in.

"They're dangerous jobs in which a momentary lapse in judgement can prove fatal. The rewards are that much higher, though!"

"Wow…"

"Only wizards given our master's approval can accept S-Class jobs. Including Erza, Laxus, and Mystogan, there are only five people qualified for them. It isn't for the faint of heart. S-class jobs are all really dangerous and deadly."

"How would a wizard become able to take S-Class jobs?" Lyla asked.

"There's an annual competition Fairy Tail has. Whoever wins becomes an S-Class wizard and are able to take the jobs upstairs."

"Isn't there a faster way?"

"Why?"

"It's just…" Lyla thought about it. Should she be bragging about most of these jobs being too easy? The only thing keeping her from just doing them all is how time consuming some of the jobs would be.

"...Nevermind… Come on, Lucy. I'm tired. We should get back to your apartment."

"Why don't you go on your own?" The blonde asked.

"Well, for starters, I don't have a key. And I have some decency, unlike the naked idiot." Lyla stated snarkily.

"Oh, right..." Lucy seemed embarrassed to forget that she never gave Lyla a copy of the apartment key, "Let's go then."

"You know, I'm starting to get most of the power rankings figured out." Lucy told Lyla during their walk home. She quickly thanked the men who warned her about walking so close to the edge of the river beside them.

Lyla crossed her arms and smirk behind her mask, "Oh, really? Then what would you say my rank is?"

"Hm… I haven't seen you in a proper fight before, but you were pretty confident standing up to Laxus back at the guild."

"You're mixing up confidence for stupidity…" Lyla took longer strides to catch up to Lucy, "I attacked him out of spite. _No one_ calls me a child."

"But… you…"

"I may look like a child, but trust me, I'm nowhere near being a child. That never even happened."

"W-what's that supposed to mean?" Lucy gave a nervous smile.

Lyla responded casually, "Oh… well, I never had a childhood and… I think in a much older mindset than I should. It's nothing too bad, but it's just who I am."

"Oh. I suppose that makes sense." The older teen fell silent, contemplating the other girl's words.

The two wizards entered their apartment to see Natsu doing sit ups on Lucy's bed shirtless, and a blue cat beside him trying to lift weights.

"Welcome back!" They both said. Wait… the cat can talk?

Lucy screamed, "You stink like sweat!" She jumped and kicked Natsu in the middle of his workout. Lyla simply smiled, though no one could tell with her mask still on.

"Do your workouts at your own house!" Lucy ordered the cat and Natsu.

"What are you talking about? We're a team, remember?" Natsu reminded. He picked up some pink dumbbells, "Here, for you!"

"You like pink, right, Lucy?" The cat asked.

"Since when do I care about dumbbells?!"

"Gotta get stronger if we wanna be Erza and Laxus and the rest!" Natsu told her, doing push-ups with the cat.

"Okay, I would like to know what this talking blue cat is." Lyla needed to know.

"I'm Happy!" The blue cat answered, "I'm just your average talking cat!"

"Average…?"

"Yeah," Natsu explained through push-ups, "He's been a part of Fairy Tail since we were little!"

"That doesn't get you two out of my house!" Lucy yelled, annoyed.

"Technically, this is an apartment…" Lyla pointed out.

"Not right now!"

"I've decided…" Natsu began, ignoring Lucy's wishes for him and Happy to leave, "Let's go on an S-Class quest, Lucy!"

"S-Class!"

Happy showed a job request with a red stamp marking it to be S-Class ranked.

"What about me?! Can't I come?" Lyla asked in anger. She was stronger than anyone else in the room!

"Yeah, sure!" Natsu replied happily, "The more the merrier!"

"That doesn't explain how you guys got it! You can't go on the second floor!" Lucy exclaimed, terrified at the risk if them having the quest.

"I went and took it." Happy blunty said in an innocent tone.

"You cat burglar!"

"Since it's our first time, we chose the cheapest job on the second floor." Natsu explained.

"7 million jewel?!" Lyla exclaimed, looking at the job, "That's the cheapest?!" That would be enough to get her out of the sweet wizard's hair.

"That could pay rent for one hundred months! That's…" Lucy did the math in her fingers, "eight years and four months!"

"We would have to split it, though," Lyla pointed out.

"Hm...true… Wait-" Lucy snapped back into her senses… sadly… "We aren't qualified for S-Class work!"

"If we pull it off, Gramps will _have_ to acknowledge us!" Natsu referred to Master Makarov.

"The job is to save an island." Happy stated.

"Island?"

"The cursed island of Galuna!" Natsu and Happy said creepily just to spook Lucy. Lyla rolled her eyes. A cursed island sounded like stories a sailor would tell, but it would be cool if the island was actually cursed.

"Forget that!" Lucy waved them away, thinking it would do something.

"Bah. Let's go home then."

"Aye."

"It had a lot of money though…" Lyla whined. She could easily get her own place to stay, even if they equally split the money.

"No way am I getting in trouble for- Wha…?! They left the paper behind!" Lucy jumped when seeing the flyer for the S-Class job lying on the floor.

While Lucy complained about being framed for stealing the paper, Lyla picked it up calmly and read the information on it.

"Hey," Lyla spoke to Lucy.

"Hm?"

"Says they'll reward a Zodiac Gatekey. What do you think that is?" Lyla doesn't really know much magic outside of her own. Sometimes she'll read a book or two talking about other magic types. This is assuming the gatekey is related to magic. Sounds like it is.

Lucy snatched the paper and read it herself. She grabbed Lyla's wrist and pulled her out the door and outside, they both ran to Natsu and Happy.

"Natsu! Happy! Wait up!" Lucy called.

"I'm not letting you take the reward for yourself!" Lyla called after them, excited. After all, rules were meant to be broken and she did that job very well.


	4. Chapter 4

The group hopped from sailor-to-sailor, asking if they'd be willing to sail them to Galuna Island. All have denied. They kept repeating the basic same answer: "Galuna is cursed, it's taboo to even speak about it!"

"Rrgh.." Lyla growled, "Why can't I just make us a boat with my magic?!"

She _did_ have the power to pull it off, if only she knew where the island was…

"No! We're swimming! Are you nuts?!" Natsu exclaimed. It's a well known fact he has motion sickness with _any_ mode of transportation. _Any._ Except Happy, actually, who is able to fly him anywhere.

"Not all of us can swim that long, Flame Brain! We don't even know where the damn place is!" Lyla retorted, snarling under her mask.

Natsu stomped away, going to the next sailor for a ride.

Lucy asked Lyla as they followed the firebreather, "Why do you curse so often?"

"Why _don't_ you curse? You're older than me, too. At least byf a little."

"I guess you have a point there."

They came up to a sailor with a black mustache and night blue cap on his head.

"I don't know why you wanna go there, but no ship will take you there." He said after Lucy asked if he could take them to Galuna.

"Then it's decided, we're swimming." Natsu said, grinning ear-to-ear.

" _Or,_ I could conjure us up a boat. Then all we need is directions."

"Swimming."

"We're going by boat."

"We're swimming!"

"Boat!"

"Swimming!"

"Boat!"

"Found you~"

"AAH!"

Natsu, Happy, Lucy, and Lyla all jumped at the creepy sound of Gray's voice whispering into their ears. He placed his hands on Natsu's and Lucy's shoulder, Lyla in the middle.

"What are you doing here?!" Natsu questioned, surprised of the ice wizard's appearance.

"The old man ordered me to bring you back." Gray answered, referring to Master Makarov.

"He's already found out?!" Natsu leaned in close to Gray, his jaw falling to the floors.

"If you come back now, you're likely _not_ to be expelled. We're going back."

Lyla snagged Salamander's muffler and pulled him back. She took his spot and crossed her arms, leaning back slightly.

"I don't see why we can't do the S-Ranked quest. Flame Brain is strong, Lucy has her magic, and I can kick you butt with the flick of a finger."

"And I'm telling you you're not strong enough to do it!" Gray's aura went from demanding to horrified, "If Erza finds out, she'll…"

He didn't need to finish for everyone to shiver in fear. Lyla had seen Erza, she's seen the redhead's strength. It would be a challenge to defeat her… her face gets scary when she's angry, too… But… maybe… Nevermind!

"I'm gonna face Erza. I'm not gonna back down to her!" Natsu claimed. Both he and Gray summoned magic around their hands.

"Magic! Are you wizards?" The sailor in the boat beside them asked, "Could you be here to lift the curse on the island!"

"Yeah!"

"W-well…"

"I won't let you!"

Silence. The man, who stood on his small boat, gawked at them.

"Get in!" He told them.

"Seriously!" Natsu exclaimed.

"Wait!" Gray started, but Lyla side kicked him hard enough to knock him out. Not that her boots helped the ice wizard.

"Natsu, you carry him." She said, looking back at Salamander as she sat in the boat, "Looks like we're traveling by boat, after all."

"Wait, we're taking him along?" Lucy asked, talking about Gray.

"Well, yeah. If we don't then Erza will be coming next…" Natsu shuddered.

"Get in the boat." Lyla snapped. She just wanted a good payday for a place of her own. None of this irritating stuff...

They had been sailing for quite some time. Night had fallen and Natsu had the constant urge to puke. Lyla made sure if he _did_ puke on the boat, it would be on Gray, who was tied up.

"Thank you for taking us to Galuna." Lyla thanked the sailor under Gray's complaining and Natsu's gags.

"As long as you can free that cursed island…"

"Who are you, anyway?"

"My name is Bobo, and I was once inhabitant of that island."

Everyone quieted to listen to Bobo, their sailor. The only sounds was the creaking wood of the boat, and rhythmic water lapping.

"But I fled from that cursed island. When you arrive on that island, misfortune fall in you. Can you really lift the curse?"

Bobo whipped the beige cloak covering his body to the side, revealing a blood red-purple demonic arm. It could be the limb of an oversized insect if they grew to the size of humans.

The man's face was shadowed as he stared at them. Lyla subtly reached up and covered her right eye under the hair.

"The demon curse," Bobo told them darkly.

"Mister, your arm…" Gray trailed off.

"The curse… you mean…" Lucy started but trailed off.

"You can see it now." He stared past his passengers and at an island resting on the dark horizon, "That's Galuna Island."

They all stared at it, except for Natsu, who still suffered from motion sickness, hanging over the edge of the boat.

A shudder worked it's way down Lyla's spine.

"What's that!" Lucy murmured, confused, "There's something shining at the top of the mountain."

Lyla stared at the light. Whatever created it, it wasn't natural.

"Huh? Where did he go!" Lucy exclaimed.

Lyla looked around, Bobo was nowhere to be seen.

"Did he fall overboard!" Gray wondered, as worried as Lucy and Lyla.

"He disappeared while we were looking elsewhere."

"No duh, captain obvious." Lyla bit.

Natsu dealt with motion sickness, Gray and Lyla were hashing it out, and Lucy ignored them all when she noticed the strange movements of the water.

"H-hey!" Gray shouted. Lyla picked him up by his shirt, ready to strangle him.

The teenage girl looked to the side of her, same a Gray.

"It's a giant wave!" She shouted.

"We're going to sink! Brace yourself!" Gray warned.

All five of them screamed as they got pulled underwater. Lyla couldn't cast any magic that could help them in the rapid water. Instead, she struggled to hold her breath and stay conscious until the last thing she saw was the black ocean around her.

Lyla opened her eyes, blinded by the midday sunlight. She could make out palm trees in her line of vision.

Sitting up, she saw what was left of the boat, two wizards, and a blue cat with his head buried in sand.

"Happy!" Lyla called, tripping as she rushed to pull him out. Natsu and Gray could wait.

She searched for her mask as Happy coughed out sand after being pulled out. Lucy emerged from the foliage, still trying to get her bearings.

 _Where's my mask?!_

The wave from last night must have torn off her mask. It's the only thing keeping her identity safe! Her hair could only cover so much of her face…

The group confirmed there was only one village on Galuna Island, which was the island they washed up on. They agreed to go there first, where they would find the chief if the village that sent the S-Class quest.

Lyla panicked internally, hoping if she looked again, she would find the damned piece of cloth that was suppose to cover her mouth, but no luck.

 _I guess I could by another when we get back to Hargeon… but..._

It took the rest of the day to find the log gates surrounding the village.

"Keep out." Gray read the sign out loud, "Alright, here we are. Now what?"

"Excuse me!" Lucy shouted, "Please open the gate!"

No response.

"Should I destroy it?" Natsu suggested.

"No!" Lucy and Lyla exclaimed in sync, Lyla punching him in the cheek.

"No! Who's there?" A voice called from the other side of the gate.

"We're from the mage guild, Fairy Tail!"

"We didn't know that someone had accepted our request!"

"A problem must've delayed the message!" Gray told them. When accepting a quest, the person who sent it would be informed about the wizards who were coming to help. Since this quest was stolen… well…

"All of you, show us your marks!" The man from inside the gate ordered.

They all did as told. Natsu showed his guild mark on his shoulder, Lucy's on her hand, Happy's on his back, and both Gray and Lyla lifted their shirts to show theirs.

The log gateway was raised, and the group walked into the village, a large group of people completely covered in cloaks and masks, only their eyes showing.

Lyla could borrow their masks until she got herself a new one, maybe. Hopefully.

"It's like we're entering the mouth of a giant monster." Happy commented

"Don't say things like that." Lucy mumbled.

Judging by the voice, and elderly man spoke to the wizards, "I am the chief of this village, Moka."

His posture had him hunched over, using his wooden staff with a blue tinted crescent moon on top as a cane.

"Before anything else, there is something we must show you." Moka continued, "Everyone!"

The village all let their beige cloaks fall, revealing monster-like appendages. Bony claws, scaly horns, animal legs, pointed ears, bird beaks, every villager had some form of monster attached to their body.

"Just like the man on the boat." Gray stated in a hushed voice."

"Such incredible sideburns!" Natsu exclaimed to Moka, who was bald except for long white sideburns falling over his ears and to his waist.

Lyla clutched a clump of Natsu's hair and dragged him bag.

"Sorry for Flame Brain, he can get pretty obnoxious…" Lyla said the last part through clenched teeth, staring back at him. Natsu rubbed his head when the teenager let go of his hair.

Moka explained the island's situation, simply chuckling at Natsu's comment, "Every living creature bears the same curse; dogs and birds are no exception." He referred to the otherworldly body parts everyone had.

"Not that I doubt you, but what makes you think it's a curse?" Gray asked with a straight face.

"We have consulted numerous doctors, but they said there is no known disease like this. So this appearance of cause must be cause by the moon's evil spell." The chief answered.

"What spell are we talking about here?" Lyla asked, her arms crossed and leaning her hips to the side.

"This place has been absorbing the moonlight since ancient times, causing the island to sparkle as beautifully as the moon itself. However some years ago, the moonlight suddenly turned violet."

"The moon is coming out!" Happy called out as a violet light gleamed in the sky. A gray cloud floated out of the way to reveal a full moon stained with the purple colour.

"Kinda creepy…" Lyla murmured, lowering her head into her shoulders.

"It's the curse." Moka said, "This is the moon's evil spell." Sweat ripped from his forehead.

The village began roaring and screaming in pain. All of the villagers began changing! Their skin turned unnatural colours, their ears became larger and more pointed, scales were all over their bodies, some had horns, other had beaks, they all grew fangs! They were fully demons.

It was an unsettling sight for Lyla, but she soon recalled her life.

"I apologize for shocking you." The chief said.

"What on earth is going on?"

"How pitiful."

Lyla stayed silent.

"How...How cool is this?!" Natsu screamed in excitement, "Awesome! You have horns and thorns. I want them too!" Was he _ever_ older than a 9 year old? Lyla would expect her little brother to act like this-if she had one-, but not a grown man. Well...Natsu isn't a grown man..

"Cool, huh?"

"This is the first time I've heard that."

While Lucy scolded Natsu, Lyla placed her hand on her forehead. She had a growing headache. It began as barely there when the moonlight shone over them, but it's more like a light throb by now.

The chief, Moka, explained further about the curse. He explained that every night the moon would rise when colored violet, they would change into their current demon forms. Most would turn back by morning, but some can't revert and end up "losing their souls". Those who supposedly lose their souls were dispatched.

"Isn't there a possibility that they might revert?" Natsu asked, hoping the answer would be "Yes".

"If we left them be, they would kill us all!" Moka replied, "Even when we locked them up, they simply destroyed the prison."

Tears fell from his cheek, his voice choked when saying he had to kill his own son due to the curse.

Lyla had to sit on the ground. Her headache slowly grew in power, and her stomach began to churn.

The village let them stay in a hut for the night. The group's conversation continued about destroying the moon as the chief asked and what other ways to lift the curse, since obliterating the moon was simply impossible.

Meanwhile, Lyla sat on the floor, leaning her back against the wall. If she was sick, it wouldn't help her to lie down. She covered her right eye with her hand. Her head felt like it had been punched, her gut was spinning out of control, and it was hard to focus.

"Are you okay, Lyla?" Lucy asked, crouching down to check the girl's temperature, "Your forehead is really warm, and your sweating too."

"I think if I just get some water," Lyla spoke slowly, "I should be alright."

"You don't think it's the curse, do you?"

"Happy!" Lucy scolded at the blue cat.

"If you would all just _shut up."_ Lyla snapped. She just wanted peace and quiet.

The group agreed to sleep for the night. Gray stripped down to his underwear, falling on top of his futon. Natsu and Happy did the same on theirs, then Lucy lay down on hers in between them.

Lyla tried sleeping, but her fever wasn't helping, neither was the snoring of Natsu and Gray.

She pressed her palm against her right eye, which burned like the fires of hell. Lyla didn't know what was wrong, but it might have something to do with the violet moon.

The next morning, Lucy woke everyone up and they all went out to investigate the island and see if there were any other way to break the curse rather than destroying it as the chief requested.

The guys were complaining about how early in the day it was. Meanwhile, Lucy was wide awake and ready to go. Lyla felt exhausted. It was too hot for her dark and covering clothes, and her 'fever' kept her up all night. She felt better now -compared to last night, but she still felt on edge and a little dizzy.

Lucy summoned one of her celestial spirits, Horologium; a grandfather clock with his face taking up the pediment, and two black arms with hands shaped as oven mitts. Strange-looking, but that was typical for celestial spirits apparently, at least for Lucy's.

The blonde used Horologium as her vehicle to get around through the jungle. She opened the glass door of the clock and stepped inside. The clock -now holding his celestial wizard- followed Gray, Natsu, and Happy. Lyla hung out in the back of the line.

Lyla thought about pulling her hair up, but she would have to be careful not to lift her bangs. She didn't have any hair ties anyway.

The sight of a puddle of water on the side of the trail caught the girl's eye. She leaned over until her reflection barely fit in the water. She kneeled down to get a better look at herself. Her brown eye was glossed over and the dark pools of exhaustion under it weighed it down. She lowered her mask to clearly see her skin, which seemed a little pale in comparison to her normal complexion.

Before leaving earlier in the day, she had asked for one of the beige masks the villagers wore when the wizards first arrived. They gave her one, and she ripped it so she could tie it around the lower half of her face.

"Lyla! You okay?" Gray asked, with barely a hint of worry in his tone.

"Hm? Yeah, I'm fine." Lyla replied, standing back up to catch up with the group.

"You've been acting weird lately," said Happy. He decided to add under his breath, "You don't think it's that time, do you?"

"Isn't she too young?" Natsu whispered to his cat companion.

"I'm seventeen you idiots!" Lyla roared.

"'Shut up you guys! Just how immature can you get?!' She exclaimed, in an annoyed tone." Horologium quoted Lucy from inside the clock. It's completely soundproof when sitting into the clock, so he quotes whatever the person is saying and adds a description of the tone the person used. Almost like a book.

Stomping that shook the earth interrupted the conversation that was supposed to end in Lyla kicking Natsu's and Happy's butts…

Everyone stopped in their tracks when the stomping came to a halt. They looked up to the clouds to see a large creature taller than the trees! It's eyes gleamed as if it wanted to eat them.

"W-what's that?" Natsu shrieked.

"It's huge!"

"'Hurry up and smash it, guys!' She says." Horologium quoted Lucy.

Lyla lifted her mask back over her face with one hand, the other glowing a deep midnight purple; The color of her magic.

"Ice Make…" Gray prepared to cast one of his own spells as an ice wizard, "...Shield!"

A wall of ice formed in front of the group just as the giant...whatever it is...spewed some sort of gas that blurred Lyla's vision and made everyone cough.

Horologium poofed out of existence as the air cleared, leaving Lucy and Happy -who snuck in to hide from the gas- defenseless. A celestial wizard could only keep a spirit from the celestial world in Earthland for so long. It mainly depended on the wizard's magical power and their contract.

The gas cleared out completely, and the huge monster that attacks them was...a..a giant rat with turquoise fur…. It even wore a a frilly pink and black maid outfit…

Was Lyla hallucinating? It would make sense...

The rat had an evil glint in its yellow eyes. It then came charging after them.

"Run!" Natsu shouted, covering his sensitive nose from the gas while fleeing with the rest of the group.

They all ducked and covered before sprinting away again when the rat spewed more of the awful gas at them.

"Ice Make Floor!" Gray shouted, casting is magic onto the ground beneath him. The rat slipped and fell on the floor of ice created from it.

"You should've done that from the start!" Natsu shouted angrily.

"Quit complaining!" Gray spat.

"Both of you shut your mouths before I break them!" Lyla yelled, holding a clenched, iron-armoured fist covered in magic up to them.

"Look, there is some kind of building over there." Lucy said. The rest turned their heads to see what she was looking at. It was a large stone temple in the distance with a staircase leading to an entryway, mostly hidden behind the jungle.

"Let's get in there while we can!" The blonde shouted, but when she turned her head, she saw Gray and Natsu kicking and punching the giant rat in the head. Lyla simply sood there, shaking her own in dissapointment.

The girls eventually got the annoying males of the group to stop attacking the unconscious rat and bring them inside the temple.

"Wow, it's so large."

"It's crumbling, isn't it?

"Which era is this from?"

The group all had their own questions about the temple, but they all decided exploring it would most likely benefit them. The room they were currently in had no lighting, and whatever decorations or structures were in here have crumbled away.

"Hey, look." Lyla said, pointing above the dark doorway in front of them. She pointed at a crescent moon carved into the wall and painted orange.

"This island was originally called 'Island of the Moon', right?" Gray asked.

"On the Island of the Moon, there's a moon's curse and a moon's crest…" Lucy trailed off.

"Well, obviously there's a pattern." Lyla said, "So if we want answers to anything here, first place to look would be something related to the moon…"

"Nevertheless, it's crumbling apart." Natsu stated for the second time. He started stomping on the ground, "Will the floor hold?"

To answer that question, the floor almost immediately crumbled before them, sending them all plummeting into a dark abyss, screaming their heads off.

Somehow, they all survived and were now in some sort of cave system.

Happy couldn't individually fly them all out, and Lyla's magic had seemed to take more energy out of her than usual since last night, so the group was stuck.

Natsu pranced away, exhilarated to explore the ruins.

The rest chased after him, stopping when they found him gaping at something.

"What is this?" Natsu exclaimed.

Lucy, Gray, Lyla, and Happy mimicked Natsu's expression when seeing a literal monster -larger than the rat from the jungle- encased in ice. It made Lyla feel smaller than a speck of dust.

They stood on rock that hang off as a high cliff. Falling would even kill the rat, yet the demon creature still towered over them

"T-this is…" Gray stuttered, "Deliora!" He walked forwards, his face still frozen with horror, "This can't be… Why is Deliora here?! It's unbelievable! There's no way it could be in a place like this!"

"Do you know what it is?" Natus asked, him, Happy, and Lucy running up to him. Lyla couldn't move. If this was something S-Class wizards dealt with on a normal basis, she wasn't so sure she wanted to become one anymore…

While they tried to calm Gray so he can explain what this "Deliora" is, Lyla struggled to stand. What was causing this to happen to her? Side effects?

Lyla gasped, when she saw shadows growing larger from the tunnel behind them.

"Hide!" She warned in a hushed voice, shoving her group behind a cluster of rocks.

Two men -a tall one wearing only jeans with cat ears and a catlike face, and a shorter one wearing a green robe with blue hair and large eyebrows- casually walked near the edge of the cliff. The talked about something called "Moon Drip" Lucy supposed it had something to do with the curse.

A young woman with pink hair tied into pigtails and wearing a maid's outfit similar to the large rat's came up to the two men. She talked about someone named Angelica and how the woman was beaten up by someone unknown. The tall man with the catlike appearance referred to Angelica as "just a rat", so Lyla assumed Angelica was the name of the giant rat that attacked them. Maybe Angelica was the woman's pet. It would explain the similar outfits.

"Intruders?" The short man with blue hair said. This shook all of the Fairy Tail wizards.

"Just when we were almost finished collecting the needed moonlight…" The woman sighed, "Let's exterminate the intruders before Reitei-sama hears of them."

She continued to talk about ending the intruders, which were the wizards hiding behind the rocks beside them.

Lucy sent Happy to make some noise down one of the tunnels. When the two men and the woman heard pebbles being kicked and ran after the sound, the group stood up from their hiding spot.

"Well done." Lucy praised to Happy, quietly so she couldn't be heard.

"Aye." The cat said.

"For what purpose did they bring Deliora here?" Gray asked to no one specific, "This immortal demon that caused havoc in the region of Iscan ten years ago… This demon that my master, Ur, who taught me magic, gave her life to seal. I don't know what connection it has to this island's curse, but…" His voice growled deeply in rising anger, "This thing should have never been brought here!"

Lyla listed the facts down, it was becoming a little too much with her illness…

Fact: Galuna Island is where Lyla and the rest of the team were. Happy and Natsu stole an S-Class quest; Lucy and Lyla joined. Gray came to retrieve them after the guild found out, but ended up coming along to.

Fact: The island is cursed, and every night when the violet moon rises, the villagers and creatures on the island turn into demonic creatures.

Fact: Lyla, Natsu, Lucy, Gray, and Happy, explored the island and found a temple. They ended up falling under the crumbling floor and found Deliora encased in ice.

Fact: The three weirdos from before must have something to do with Deliora and/or the Moon's curse.

Unknown: Who the hell was Reitei and what the hell where they doing?


	5. Chapter 5

Natsu, Lucy, Gray, Happy, and Lyla all stared at Deliora encased in unmeltable ice. Gray's master from childhood, Ur, used a spell called Ice Shell to seal away the demon that stood before them. The spell encases whatever is cast upon it with ice that can't be melted by any magic, much less normal fire.

"If they knew it couldn't be melted, why did they bring it here?" Gray asked out loud, referring to the three weirdos they hid from earlier.

"They probably didn't know, or maybe they're trying to melt it somehow," Lucy suggested.

"They're idiots no matter what the reason for bringing that demon here," Lyla added, crossing her arms. The strange pressure covering the island was definitely coming from here.

"We should go after those guys from before," Natsu said, pointing his thumb in the direction they ran.

"No."

The four wizards turned their attention back to Gray.

"We shall wait here," The ice wizard ordered, "and we'll wait until the moon rises."

"The moon! But it's only noon!" Natsu exclaimed.

The rest ignored him.

"Gray, what do you mean by that?" Lucy asked.

"I believe that the island's curse and Deliora are both somehow related to the moon."

"Then I guess we'll wait until night," Lyla spoke up.

"I can't do that! I'm going after them!" Natus yelled, fire spitting out of his mouth.

"Sleep," Lyla pressed her index and middle finger into the hollow just behind Natsu's ear. This sent him falling to the ground and snoring like the monster he is.

"How did you do that?!" Lucy asked in shock.

"I might've read a book or two about pressure points on the human body and the different ways to work them." Lyla explained nonchalantly. "That was the easiest one to get him to shut up for a while." She could have used so many others if she wanted.

The group spent the next few hours sitting in the ruins, waiting for something to happen. Gray sat on a the floor, facing Deliora and staring at the ground. Happy and Lucy sat beside Natsu, who was still snoring the day away. Lyla leaned back on a larger rock, her head tilted down as she rested her eyes.

The teenager's eyes were still heavy from lack of sleep. She would probably have to hibernate for a day to get the bags under them back to normal.

"Just waiting around is boring after all," Lucy whined. "That's right!" She clapped her hands together as if she remembered something, which made Lyla jump.

Lucy took out one of her silver keys and summoned the celestial spirit tied to it, "Open up, gate of the harp!"

A young girl with blonde waist length hair poofed into existence. Her hair curled at the end, and her mouth was shaped like a cat's. She wore a long blue dress with pink frills at the ends and hear prints just below her waist. She had a pink bonnet on her head, leather shoes, and small white wings and a harp on her back. She resembled an irritatingly pink-but sweet-angel.

"Hey! It's been a while, Lucy!" She exclaimed, waving her hand frantically.

"Hi, Lyra." Lucy greeted.

"Geez, you _never_ summon me! I want to contribute more of my services to you."

"But I can only summon you three days a month!"

"What? Is that so?"

Happy and Lyla shared the same worried expression.

"Another weirdo showed up."

"Says the talking cat..." Lyla retorted quietly.

Lyra took out her harp and began playing a song to help pass the time. It was a slow and peaceful song, but it had a melancholy touch to it. Lyla didn't feel like doing anything but sitting there and enjoying the peaceful melody.

When Lyra stopped singing and the song was over, Lyla heard Gray sniffling. He still just sat on the floor, sulking the whole time.

"H-hey...Gray?" Lucy asked, worrying for her guildmate.

"Huh? What is it?" He asked, not turning around to face the others. He was trying really hard to play the tough guy act, which Lyla knew too well to be fooled by it.

"He cried." Happy pointed out unnecessarily.

"Lyra does specialize in singing songs that reflect what's in people's hearts, but…" Lucy trailed off.

"Gray was crying." Happy repeated, which earned him a painful bop in the head from Lyla.

"Shut it, will you?" She hissed at him.

"Sing a happier song, Lyra!" Lucy ordered, frantically trying to change the subject.

"Oh! You should have told me in advance."

"Now that I think about it, what if someone comes along?" Gray said, "Just be quiet."

Natsu along with Lucy, Happy, and Lyla had fallen asleep while waiting for nightfall. Gray was still up, slouched over on the ground when the ground began rumbling.

It wasn't the earth shaking, or her guildmates' screams of confusion, but the loud _Dong_ coming from a violet magic circle above Deliora that woke Lyla up.

"AAAAAAAAAGGHHHH!" Lyla began writhing in pain as it felt like a Hellish fire covered her. She clutched her hand over her right eye, which was the source of the Hellfire-like burn.

The magic circle cast the same violet light from the moon onto Deliora.

"Lyla!" Lucy screamed in concern.

"Stay away you bitch!" Lyla yelled in agony. Her hands glowed with her shadow magic, blood dripped from her mouth, which stained her mask. Lyla ripped off her mask and turned over to where she faced the ground beneath her. Her blood began to drip onto the ground from her mouth.

"We need to find the source of that light!" Gray yelled over the quaking earth and hum from the magic circle.

"Something's wrong with Lyla!" Lucy called back, who then ran up to the girl.

"I said get away!" Lyla roared. She used the little control she had over her magic to encase herself in a dark cloud.

"Take one step closer and the gas will kill you!" She gasped the warning.

"What's wrong with her?" Happy exclaimed in worry.

"Let your friends help you!" Natsu ordered. They all started inching towards her.

"Why don't you idiots fucking listen to me?!" She yelled with a horrid scream to follow. The deadly gas vanished at Lyla's loss of control over her own magic. The poor girl began puking up blood.

"Happy!" Gray ordered, "Carry Lyla with us!"

"Aye!"

The blue cat managed to grab the collar of Lyla's skin tight shirt and lift her into the sky. The girl tried shaking herself free, which almost worked. Happy took Lyla and followed his friends above to ruins. He placed her down once they exited the top of the temple.

"Get her out of here!" Gray commanded. Happy nodded and flew Lyla into the jungle nearby.

She took deep breaths to try and calm down. She clutched her right eye with one hand, her head with the other.

"Lyla what's wrong?!" Happy asked, "There must be something I can do… Maybe you're hungry? A fish would do the trick!"

"Just.. Ngh.." Lyla groaned through the pain, shaking when trying to keep herself steady, "Go help the others…"

"Are you sure?"

"I'll be fine.. Just…" She clenched her teeth, which were stained with blood, "Just go.."

Reluctantly, Happy nodded and flew off to return to the group.

Lyla slowly was able to regain control of her magic. Her eyes stung less, and it didn't hurt as much to move. Whatever was happening to her, the Moon's curse has something to do with it. She only fell ill when its magic was near.

At least she knew that the demons from old did have something to do with her… She laughed bitterly-hysterically-as the pain receded just a little.

"What did you do that for?!" Lyla heard Natsu's voice echo throughout the woods above her quiet laughter. She had a little trouble standing up, but once on her feet, she walked towards the sounds of Salamander destroying the jungle. His head was planted into the ground and all but his limbs and head encased in ice.

Before she could help him up, Natsu spewed fire from his mouth as thrust to shoot him into the air and fall on his feet. A… unique way to pick yourself up, but okay.

"Gray you jerk! I'll get you for this!" Natsu yelled at the top of a mountain with violet light shining up top.

"Maybe, instead of attracting attention, you should shut up." Lyla snarled. "Maybe, we want to get out of this shit show. I, personally am getting fed up with all of this idiocy in my way."

"Huh?" He just noticed his teammate over his fire and snarls, "Lyla! Thank god you're okay!" He ran awkwardly up to her with only his knees down being able to move.

"Now help me melt this ice!" He ignited his hand with fire and held it to the frozen shell around him, "My fire can't melt the ice. The heck?!"

While walking by him, Lyla gave Natsu an uppercut.

"Ow!" He growled in pain, "You missed the ice!"

"Wasn't aiming for it." Lyla snarked, "Come on, you need to show me where the rest of our team is."

"Wait! It's hard to walk like this."

"You could tell me what I missed on the way their." Lyla said, ignoring Natsu. She always felt on edge when she was around the moon's light too… A shudder worked its way down her spine.


	6. Chapter 6

The guy the three weirdos called "Reitei" was a dude called Lyon, the leader of their group and the mastermind behind the moon curse. Natsu said Lyon sent the three goons to eliminate the village that called for Fairy Tail's help. Happy flew Lucy out of danger when Lyon and Gray started fighting, Natsu got stuck in a giant ice boulder trying to take part in the action. On top of that, it seems that Lyon and Gray have some history, which must be a nice reunion...

Lyla and Natsu trekked up to the top of the mountain where they found Gray lying on the floor unconscious. His body was covered in scratches and bruises.

"Wake up, Gray!" Natsu grumbled, still stuck in ice, "How lame… You sure got beaten to a pulp."

"Natsu... Why are you here?" Gray managed to mumbled.

"Natsu told me about the village. We couldn't find it, so we came up here." Lyla told him.

Gray grunted in pain, "Lyla.. You're okay?"

"Physically, yeah. Not in the best mood right now, though." It's true, she's had a slight snap to her voice since the freak show she put on back with Deliora. She's been on edge and felt like any hiccup could set her off.

"I see the village!" Natsu shouted to his teammates. "Over there! Come on, let's go." He bent down the best he could with his ice cocoon to pick up Gray by the back of his shirt.

"Wait! I can walk…" Gray said, "Where's Lyon?"

"No one's here. The guy must be somewhere else, trying to melt Deliora." Lyla suggested.

"How would he do that?" Natsu asked.

"Just a thought. You said he sent the goons to destroy the village, so that job's done, and he wants to melt Deliora for some reason."

Gray tried standing up, but almost fell on the floor if Natsu hadn't caught him.

"Here, I'll carry him." Lyla offered.

"You were hurting just a while ago. I still have some strength left." For once, Natsu had a serious attitude.

"My magic is weak, but I can manage." Lyla used her magic to conjure a floating platform made of shadows just large enough for Gray to lie on. Natsu carefully placed Gray down on the platform.

"Woah," He said when he felt the surface, "It's as soft as a bed."

"We wouldn't want our _beloved_ ice wizard to wake up sore." Sarcasm dripped from her words. "Come on, let's go." She started walking, the bed-like platform with Gray on it following her. Natsu followed too, walking right behind her.

It took a while, but they finally reached the gates of the village, which happened to open for them. Lucy stood in front of the village, who all looked that the three of them.

"Hey guys! You're safe?! Natsu called, running up to them. Lyla had no energy to run right now, but she could speed walk at the least, so that's what she did.

"Stop, don't come any closer!" Lucy begged, freaking out for some reason. Was it an ambush? Did the three wizards already come and were luring the rest of them into a trap.

Natsu skidded to a stop. No enemies jumped out to attack. Lyla hurried up to the salamander. There were some leaves and straw on the ground. It wasn't there before they left.

"What's this?" Salamander asked. He stepped forward. Lyla stayed still, panting.

Natsu yelled when the ground suddenly broke beneath him and sent him falling into a deep pit. Lyla's magic slipped, the noise breaking her concentration, and the shadow platform disappeared, dropping Gray on the ground just before the pit.

"Who the heck is playing pranks at a time like this?" Natsu asked.

"Lucy, of course." Happy replied.

"I knew it!"

"You've got it wrong!" Lucy tried defending herself.

"Hm?" Lyla looked down at Natsu, "Hey, the ice broke."

"J-Just as I planned!" Lucy said.

"Sure~!" Lyla called back sarcastically. "It was definitely what you wanted when you had no idea what happened." She wiped away some sweat.

"At least you seem to be feeling better."

"I'm in the best mood I can be right now, with the Moon's curse and all."

Some villagers helped Natsu out the hole as Lyla walked around it. Another picked up Gray and placed him down on ground further away from the childish trap.

"A flying rat!" Someone called out, pointing to the sky.

Lyla saw a giant turquoise rat using its tail as a helicopter propeller to fly.

"It's that thing that attacked us from before.

"What's that bucket?"

The rat has some large metal bucket in its hands. It most likely wasn't going to be an apology gift.

A large drop of something green fell from the bucket. It looked like it was going to land on Lucy. Was it jelly? It looked like jelly…

"Lucy!" Natsu yelled, jumping into the blonde and sending both of them flying to the side. The jelly fell on a plant where Lucy stood, leaving nothing by a small hole and smoke behind.

"It's toxic!"

"Is the whole bucket really filled with that?"

"Don't tell me they plan to drop it on us!"

"Gather in the center of the village, everyone!" Natsu ordered. He leaped into the air as Happy flew to catch him. The two of them flew off to follow the rat.

Everyone followed Natsu's order's and gathered in the center, three of them had to carry Gray.

A few second later, the rat swung the bucket out of her hands, sending toxic jelly to fall all over the village.

In the air, Natsu used his fire magic to disperse the jelly, leaving a gaping hole in the center. When the jelly hit the ground, everyone was safe, but they were stuck on a circular piece of land with the ground around them completely dissolved.

The three goons who follow Reitei's orders approached them.

"We must destroy all of Reitei-sama's enemies." The girl of the group said, "Even though we tried to bestow instant death upon them, it seems that a lot of blood must now be spilled."

The man with blue hair and green clothes spoke, "Fifty villagers and three wizards. This should take about fifteen minutes."

The villagers started the way to somewhere away from the fight.

"Let's go."

"Yeah."

"I'm with you. That makes four wizards!" Happy said.

"Three. Lyla, you're sitting this one out." Natsu told her.

"What?"

"You're still weak. You're in no condition to use your magic."

"I can still fight!" Lyla's voice trembled with anger. Purple sparks of magic flew from her hands.

"I'll fight too…" Gray said. Everyone turned around to see him struggling to stand up.

"You two go with them. You'll just drag me down." Natsu said the the ice and shadow wizards.

"Gray, _you're_ in no condition to fight. You can barely stand." Lyla told him. "I can fight still. Go."

Natsu walked up and gave Gray a punch the the gut. "Injured patients should just stay asleep." He turned back to Lyla, "Help the villagers look after him."

"Tch." Lyla reluctantly agreed. She followed behind the village to a safer place. "Who does that salamander think he is?!" She grumbled, "He saw me use my magic, I can still fight!" She kicked the dirt beneath her.

"He didn't want you to get hurt." The villager who carried Gray said.

"I already got hurt, a few more punches shouldn't do much!" Magical pain was far worse than physical pain. She'd prefer to beat someone up than wait in agony.

"But you're a team, aren't you supposed to care for each other? He only wants you to be safe."

Lyla fell silent for a bit before mumbling, "You're making it sound like he likes me."

"Eh- Not like that! I mean, I've heard that the wizards of Fairy Tail are like family. So, shouldn't Natsu be like a brother to you?"

Lyla crossed her arms, "I've known him for barely a week. He has no right to tell me what's best for my health!" Only one person had that right!

But, the word "family" echoed in her head. That one person she considered to be family, and they were somewhere else in the world, living a safer life. Lyla wondered what would've happened if they could've grown up together as siblings. They might be living normal lives. They could maybe join the town's guild, or seek for more ordinary jobs. They would probably be having dinner by now, chatting and laughing about when they were younger. Although, when Lyla thought more about it, she wouldn't trade anything in the world for for a life away from Fairy Tail. At the same time, she would give up almost anything to see them again.

"Ah! Umph!" The small girl stumbled when standing up. She had bruises all over her and the room seemed all topsy turvy, yet she still had her fists clenched, dark purple magic sparking from them.

A slightly older girl punched the smaller one in the jaw to send her falling back to the ground. The older girl had piercing emerald eyes and dark hair that hadn't been properly brushed in years.

The younger child stood up again, this time using her magic to create a large cloud of shadows that pushed the older girl in the wall. Neither children wanted to fight, but had to due to the workers watching them through a window on the floor above.

The older girl used her own magic as thrust to lift her into the air and out of the grasp of the younger's shadows.

As the older one fell to the ground she created an ear piercing screech with her magic. The younger child covered her ears in pain and collapsed to the floor when her opponent landed on top of her.

The older girl had won. The loser barely had any strength to continue.

Two men dressed in white and blue cloaks with red cloth covering their faces walked into the room.

When the victor stood up, the younger girl noticed her ears were bleeding, yet they still smiled.

"What's your name?" The older girl asked with a smile, holding out her hand.

The younger girl took it and pulled herself up, "I don't have one."

"That's a shame. Maybe we can come up with a name for you later?"

The younger girl looked up in shock, she gave a slight nod as the winner of the fight walked away.

"W-wait!" She called back, "What's your name?"

The older girl stopped to answer. The younger girl smiled now that she knew someone by their name and not by their scary uniform.

That's when one of the men roughly grabbed her by the arm and dragged her away, putting handcuffs on her that nullified her magic. The second man came up to the girl without a name and put a replica of the handcuffs on her, then taking her to her back to her room.


	7. Chapter 7

Infuriated from being considered unfit to help, Lyla helped the villagers set up camp in their storage area a little ways from the village. She moved boxes and barrels, set up cots and futons, and did anything else she could to keep herself busy. If she wasn't busy, her mind might wander somewhere unpleasant.

Many of the villagers suggested kindly for her to rest. Lyla had been working nonstop and the moon's curse did a number on her, but she had to keep herself busy. Plus, Gray was sleeping off his wounds in the infirmary, so she had to make up for the work he couldn't do.

It wasn't until the camp was finished being set up when Lyla sat down to catch her breath. That's when a young woman with a blue, insect-like leg -due to the curse- offered her a plate of food.

Instead of fighting, Lyla took the apple that was there more as a side dish and began walking towards the woods. She hadn't gone far when someone asked, "Where are you going?"

"To eat in peace," she replied drily and continued walking. "I'm not going far."

"But it still isn't safe!" The villager insisted.

" _I'm_ not safe," She retorted softly before rapidly disappearing into the woods. It was partially true, but more as an excuse to be left alone at the moment.

"What?" The person said, unsure of what Lyla had said.

Lyla, staying true to her words, stayed close to the makeshift camp, close enough to hear quietly and far enough to be alone.

As the girl settled into the crook of a tree branch, she listened to the sounds of nature as they echoed. After double checking no one was around, she pulled her mask down and began to eat. The apple was gone before long. She stared toward the camp, listening to the villager's enjoying themselves despite their curse. Her mind began to wander as she listened.

She had been listening to them for hours, thinking, when a loud, obnoxious laugh cut above the quiet chatter. Gray would still be asleep, so only one person was going to be this obnoxious. Natsu.

Lyla climbed down from her perch and moved through the woods, away from the camp, until she saw the idiot. Silent as always, the teenager walked up behind Natsu and smacked him across the back of the head.

"Shut up, ash-brain! Do you want that Reitei asshole to hear you?" The girl snapped, hissing under her breath to keep quiet. "You've already startled all the animals around here!"

"I didn't know you cared so much about the animals," Natsu said, confused and rubbing the back of his head.

"I don't care right now, that's L-...nevermind..." She trailed off sadly. After a second, she returned to normal. "It'll let the enemy know where we are if we disturb the wildlife too much. That is not a good idea if we're going to protect the villagers."

"Oh, that makes sense. I didn't know you were smart like that, Lyla."

"Just be quiet." The girl was pinching the bridge of her nose.

"But what if I have a plan?"

It was the next afternoon when Natsu and Lyla made it to the temple built over Deliora. It was quite warm outside. Unpleasantly warm, at least, for Lyla, who was wearing dark clothes. Inside the temple, it would be nice and cool.

"All right! Let's split up!" Natsu exclaimed.

"Shut up," The girl groaned, rubbing her temples. "You're going to attract the enemy and make my damn headache worse. So shut the hell up!"

"Oh, okay…" Natsu said, a little spooked by Lyla's outburst. She had been calm since she had first scolded him in the forest.

"Just… let's go break some stuff." She said softly, rapidly changing mood. He nodded and they headed inside together.

It wasn't long before loud crashes resounded throughout the temple and flares of black shadows and red flames could be seen.

The temple began to tilt as Natsu broke pillar after pillar. Lyla, exhausted from it all, was sweating profusely as she broke the pillars more slowly.

"Are you ok, Lyla?" Natsu called, still smashing through the support system.

"I'm fine. Keep going. I'll be right behind you." He nodded and continued working.

In no time at all, Natsu had destroyed majority of the pillars on the left side. Lyla managed to destroy the few he didn't get to. The temple slanted, causing Lyla to lose her balance.

Natsu had blown a hole through several floors. Now the two wizards could see who Lyla assumed to be Reitei, the cat guy, and an old man dressed in a cloak and mask peering down at them from five floor above.

Natsu started laughing. "I'd rather destroy it before you found me out," he glanced at Lyla, "but these ruins are a lot harder to bring down than I thought."

The one she thought was Reitei asked, horrified, "What are you trying to do?"

"The building is crooked now, right?" Natsu got ready to jump. "This way, the moonlight can't shine on that demon below!"

The building rumbled again and Lyla fell to the floor.

"You bastard! How dare you do this?" Reitei sneered. "Damn you, Fairy Tail!"

"Oh no… I don't get what's going at all..." The cat guy stated.

The old man turned to him and said, "They are trying to topple these ruins. By destroying half of the pillars holding up the base of the ruins, he can topple the building so that the moonlight will not reach Deliora." The man smirked more. "That's probably his plan."

"Despite Natsu being the dunce he is, he can be smart at times." Lyla… complimented him? The men couldn't hear her, but Natsu could.

"Quit yapping already!" Natsu exclaimed, firing flaring around his feet and lifting him slightly.

"Flames on his legs?" Reitei asked in confusion, yet his face did not show it.

The catman made a questioning sound before saying, "This guy can flame up any part of his body!"

Natsu jumped -growling. He catapulted into Reitei's stomach, knocking him straight up. The cat made a shocked snorting sound while the old man just looked satisfied. He began to crack, then shatter in a bright green-blue flash of ice before another glow of the same color took its place.

"What?" Natsu glanced behind him. "A fake?"

"Ice-make Eagle!" Reitei exclaimed. The girl couldn't see him from the bottom floor, but she saw the eagles bolt at Natsu.

"You can't evade them in mid-air!"

Natsu's response was to look up and blast fire at the ceiling, slamming himself into the floor. Lyla couldn't see him anymore, but heard his landing. Another blast of fire could be heard.

"What haphazard magic!" Reitei said.

"Fire Dragon's Breath!" Another jet of fire launched from Natsu. A moment later, a scream echoed from him.

Lyla remained in the shadows of the floor just beneath them. She took the time during the fight to make her way to the top.

"Seems that you were in luck, Reitei-sama." The old man said.

"Keep it to yourself that I got fired…" The catman told them.

"What did you do?" Reitei's voice echoed imperiously.

"What indeed..." Was the old man's smug reply.

"Don't play dumb." Reitei snapped. "It was your magic that destroyed the floor, right?"

"As expected of Reitei-sama… Nothing gets past you." The old man sighed. "But, please do understand. I cannot afford to lose you until Deliora is resurrected." A cold wind rose from Reitei's magic, the fog icy fog with it falling down the hole Natsu created earlier.

"Are you saying that I would lose to those flames?" Reitei asked as his magic glowed brighter. The wind got stronger and some ice, the same color of Reitei's magic, sprouted from underneath him. It quickly spread throughout the floor, the walls, the ice even reached the ceiling. Lyla let out a soft hiss when the ice froze over the hole above her. Now she would have to break through. Damn it…

"Begone! I will finish him myself. I'm the one and only wizard who can defeat Deliora. Reitei Lyon! I wouldn't be worthy of that reputation if I had a hard time with this brat." Lyla managed to make out what Reitei said. It would've been so much easier to eavesdrop several years ago.

Lyla used magic from her palms to lift her up from the ground. She listened to Reitei talking. Once it seemed like she stood just behind him, she created a platform beneath her to keep her above ground and started pounding on the ceiling. Her ironclad gloves plus aid from her magic made the rubble crumble faster. The ice started to crack to too long afterwards.

Luckily, Reitei had been casting a spell, so he didn't hear Lyla until the ice shattered behind him,the teenager leaping out.

He turned around only for Lyla's foot to snap kick him up his jawline. Reitei recoiled back, touching where she had hit him with his fingers.

He roared in fury, "Ice Make Eagles!"

Lyla was ready to block the attack when Natsu's fire got his attention.

"Don't forget who you're fighting!" Natsu called back, his childish demeanour completely vanishing. Lyla never knew Salamander could be so serious.

"Just drop it and surrender already, pointy-eyed bastard."

"Like you eyes aren't pointy." Reitei retorted.

Reitei Lyon was slim with a muscular body. His bluish silver hair spiked upwards with a few strands falling over the left side of his face. His eyes _were_ pointy like Natsu's, but slimmer. He wore a large white cape with fur trimmings and golden edges over a light ocean blue tunic coming just below his knees. He also had dark pants tucked into armoured boots.

"Time to settle the score." Natsu grinned madly, his fist igniting in flames. Lyla's magic engulfed her hands, too. Reitei would have to dodge both wizards at the same time, and it would be trickier from both the front and the back.

They looked to the side as a part of the wall of ice began to crack. Someone else was on the other side…

"What's this?"

Lyla was relieved when it turned out to be Gray breaking through. His clothes were only his pants, shoes, and bandages wrapped around his upper body.

"Natsu, Lyla," Gray began, "please let me take care of his guy."

"You jerk, you lost to to him once already, remember?" Natsu reminded him. Everyone's guards were still up, but Gray's sudden appearance stopped all the fighting.

"This time, I won't."

"At least let us help. It'll be easier with three against one." Lyla's voice raised slightly. She tried her best to keep from lashing out. The moon may not be out yet, but it had long lasting effects on her, just like the villagers.

"This is between him and me." Gray told her. She snarled in response, keeping her hands ready in case Reitei attacked. First Natsu keeps her from fighting the ice wizard's goons, now Gray won't let her fight the stupid ice wizard.

Gray shifted, spreading his feet and crossing his wrists in an "X".

"That pose…" Reitei gasped, "Iced shell!" Whatever spell Gray was casting was either very advanced, very dangerous, or both.

"Ice shell?" Natsu asked to no one in particular.

Lyla recalled Gray saying how Ul used a spell called Iced Shell to seal Deliora.

 _Bastard had a death wish, huh?_ How stupid can Gray get?

"Have you gone mad?" Reitei said.

"Return the villagers to normal," Gray demanded, "and get off of this island along with your underlings!" An ice blue magic circle appeared under him, "This is your final chance."

"Gray, shut up and stop this!" Lyla yelled at him, "You're _really_ going to give your life up just to stop some guy?"

He ignored her. He began casting the spell, freezing wind biting Lyla's skin through her clothes. The force of the wind was too strong for Reitei, who lost his balance and flew backwards. Natsu and Lyla couldn't move, otherwise they'd be sent flying into the walls.

"No matter how much time passes by," Gray spoke over the wind, his bandages coming undone, "the fact that I killed Ul will remain unchanged. I knew I'd have to take responsibility one day."

Lyla blocked her eyes with her hands with how bright the spell was, her magic going out.

"And today is that day. I've been ready to die for the last ten years!"

Lyla's eyes threatened to tear up. It could've been from the light, or from something else.

"You dumbass!" Natsu's voice echoed in the large room, punching Gray in the cheek and leaving a bruise.

The wind stopped, the spell stopped, everything went silent. Lyla took deep breaths now that she could relax on some level.

"Natsu!"

"You suddenly interrupt my fight and start blabbing about this 'responsibility' crap? You're irritating! Don't steal my prey!"

"Way to be the salamander you are." Lyla said snarkily.

She was ignored, the bickering between Salamander and Ice Queen apparently _much_ more important to deal with right now. She almost forgot that they were here to defeat the enemy.

"Honestly, could you two just be quiet for three seconds?" Lyla pushed Gray and Natsu away from each other.

The temple just then began rumbling, the ice on the ceiling breaking apart. Lyla noticed that floor was being tilted back to normal. Somehow, it was standing up straight again.

Natsu began having a fit that their work was being undone while Gray and Lyla worried about the light now being able to shine on Deliora.

"I'm sorry, I was busy." The short old man from before came running in through the hole Gray broke through.

"Zalty, is this your doing?" Reitei asked the old man. At least Lyla now had a name for his masked face.

"The moon will be coming out soon, so I decided to restore the temple."

"After all our work to disrupt it!" Natsu exclaimed in annoyance, "How were you able to restore it?"

Zalty ignored him, returning his attention to Reitei, "Well then, I suppose we must make preparations for the Moon Drip ceremony."

The old man ran off, Natus chasing after him.

"Natsu!" Gray exclaimed, "Lyla, go after him."

"Tch." Lyla ran in the direction Natsu had gone, but stopped. Zalty was probably heading to Deliora, where the moon's curse would be the strongest. Once the moon came out, it would be worse for her and she'd end up being useless.

So, Lyla ran back to Gray and Reitei. She made sure her steps were silent and stayed in the shadows, peeking through the hole in the wall of ice. At most, she could offer a surprise lethal blow when Reitei was most vulnerable during their fight.

Lyla placed her hand over her mouth to keep from gasping. Her eyes wide, she saw that Reitei had cast a spell. An ice shaped like a snow tiger sprouted from Gray's back. The spell shot through his side. Gray collapsed from the pain.

Gray stood up, punching Reitei in the side of his face. He shot backwards, creating a dent in the iced wall behind him. Blood dripped down Gray's side.

"Impossible! How can you move despite such a grave injury?" Reitei exclaimed in confusion.

The two ice wizards stood up, they stopped using magic and agreed on an old fashioned brawl, which seemed pointless to Lyla, but it might be better for Gray's sake.

Then again, maybe not. Reitei was beating the crap out of Gray with such ease. He wasn't even scratched. Meantime, Gray struggled to stand up straight.

"In the end, you are still no match for me." Reitei began walking away, Lyla back away from the entryway and let her magic escape her hand. If she was going to attack him, it would be as he walked out. One powerful spell should do the trick.

"Wait!" Gray stood up, showing that he has not been defeated yet, "this isn't over yet!"

The shadows in her hand vanished. Reitei charged at Gray. Gray charged at him, they exchanged punches to the face, but Gray's had more power behind it.

"There's no way I am gonna lose!" He yelled.

The two wizards started beating each other to a pulp, and Gray seemed to be winning.

Lyla's eye started to sting. The moon must be above the temple by now, but the moon drip must not be as strong yet.

Angered, Reitei casted a spell, "Ice Make Snow Dragon!"

A large dragon made of ice flew and clenched it's jaws onto gray. He managed to break free and rolled onto the floor.

"You broke our promise!"

"Who gives a damn? No matter how you struggle, Deliora will soon be resurrected!"

The temple shook. Lyla would _love_ to pull her eye out right now, it felt like the fires of Hell were burning in it. Again. She tried stifling a scream of pain, which came out as small shrieks.

Gray and Reitei were casting spells. Gray created an iced cage to trap Reitei's snow tiger. They were speaking, but the girl couldn't hear.

"No." Lyla hissed, "No, no, no, no, no…" She continued to chant, as if it might stop her magic. The magic became more uncontrollable by the second. Shadows oozed out of her hands, a dark aura glowed from her. She ripped her mask off of her face, her body was burning up!

"Ice Cannon!" Gray casted a spell that created a large cannon in his hands. He knew it would be the final attack to end this fight.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Lyla screamed at the top of her lungs. Shadow magic bursted from her body, shooting out in all directions. It broke through the ice Reitei created, it shattered through the ruins' old and already crumbling walls.

Gray created an iced shield to block where this magic was coming from. It shattered almost instantaneously and was thrown into the wall. By the time the magic cleared out, he saw Lyon unconscious on the floor.

He saw black and purple shadow magic emitting from a somebody in the distance. At the sudden pain in his side, he created some ice to block his wound from the beginning of his fight.

Gray cautious approached the body. It turned out to be Lyla's?

She laid there, unconscious, but trembling. Gray reached his hand out to pick her up and carry her, but the magic around her shot a blast of shadows at him. He dodged to the side before it hit him and stumbled.

"What is this?" So it looked like he couldn't touch her…

He created a sled with his maker magic and slid it under her, being careful so she couldn't get hurt.

Whatever state Lyla was in, it seemed like she was very vulnerable.

Gray didn't trust Lyon being in the same room as Lyla, even when her magic was protecting her, so he decided to take her to a safe place near the exit of the ruins. It wouldn't be wise to take her closer to moon drip, which caused her last episode similar to this. Slowly, he began pulling the sled and the glowing teenager on it.

Lyla groaned in pain when the sled hit a bump.

"Don't worry. We'll be safe soon." Gray tried to reassure her, or, more accurately, himself.


	8. Chapter 8

Before Gray could get Lyla to safety, the building began rumbling and a loud, cacophonous sound filled the air.

"Don't tell me Deliora…" he muttered.

Lyla woke from the rumbling. She was a little woozy, but was at least conscious and could stand.

"He is." She said, her voice as strong as usual, "The ceremony is almost over and the ice is disappearing. Deliora will be free. Go. I'll be fine." The girl rose and began stretching.

"What do you mean _you'll be fine_? Not that long ago, you were unconscious!" Gray snapped at her, torn.

"Well, for one, I can walk properly." She demonstrated. "And two, my magic isn't attacking you. I've got it under control for now. You go deal with the demon, and I'll flee and keep my magic from going crazy." She shrugged like it should be obvious. "It's harder to focus when other people are around, so fuck off." She flipped him off and started walking away.

"Wait! Are you sure you're ok?"

She turned and looked at him. "Yes. Thank you for helping me. Anyway, it's your duty or some crap, right? Just don't kill yourself." Her eye was steely and left no room for argument.

"All right…" he reluctantly agreed.

"Good."

Gray blinked and the girl was gone. He ran off ignoring the strangeness of that encounter.

Lyla, as soon as she was out of sight, broke into a run.

"Go to the beach. No one is there. Magic can't hurt anyone." She chanted, dodging gracefully through the trees at full speed. She collapsed a few feet from the beach, the strength she had gotten back was fleeting. Her magic flared and began destroying everything near her.

Once there was a large circle of clearance around her, her magic stopped and suspended her in the air.

She floated there, her magic raging inside the bubble of space. Lyla stared at the stars through the purple haze. She didn't even bother to struggle. Her magic was trying to protect her and if she struggled… it might put her to sleep for a long time.

She just stayed there. She sighed as she watched the dark, night sky clouds being carried away by a slight wind.

It had been a while since Lyla had to deal with something like this. Since she had to spend almost a full day in solitude, locked away from any living being. But this… this was nothing. Not even an hour passed as the dark magic around her started to fade away. Like dust clearing out after Natsu demolished another building.

Lyla had read about him, too, in Sorcerer's Weekly. Almost all of Fairy Tail's wizards ended up in that magazine at one point or another. She didn't need to know him on a personal level to know that Flame Brain is probably one of the most destructive wizards in Fiore. Everyone who's heard of the name "Salamander" has an idea of the mess he can cause.

As the cloud of magic around Lyla began to disperse slowly, it settled her back on the ground. Sometimes it's best to just let her magic do its own thing.

She slowly stood up and made her way to the makeshift camp.

To her surprise, no one was there. The villagers seemed to have completely vanished.

"Hey!" A familiar, high pitched voice called out. Lyla turned away from the crate of fruit -she was getting a little peckish- and poke her head out from the tent to see Lucy, Natsu, Gray, and Happy looking for the villagers too.

There was a young woman with long scarlet red hair, a blue skirt, and armoured chestplate and gloves.

"Hey guys." She walked out from the tent, announcing herself with exhausted eyes and a casual tone.

"Lyla!" Lucy's eyes sparkled at the relief of knowing her friend was safe.

"Gray told us you were out pretty bad back at the ruins." Natsu said.

"Where is that ice guy anyways?" Lyla asked, looking around to see that he suddenly disappeared.

"He just went to get some supplies for his wounds." The scarlet haired woman told her. Lyla recognized her brown eyes and intimidating demeanour. It was Erza Scarlet: the woman Natsu fought when getting back from a mission before this whole S-Class quest thing.

"I suppose you're here to take us back to the guild?" Lyla asked Erza. He was a little shocked to see the woman here, but Gray tried taking them back. Since he didn't return yet, it would make sense that Master Makarov would send someone stronger - and more likely to follow rules - after them.

Erza confirmed Lyla's theory, "Yes, and I never thought that a wizard so new to a guild would risk breaking such an important rule. Don't you know the consequences to stealing a job you are not permitted to do?!" Her voice was at its normal tone, but filled with fury. Lyla could see why people were so scared of her.

"Everyone, you have returned." A villager covered in green scales and a tale came running up to them, "T-there has been a major development! Anyway, please hurry back to the village."

The Fairy Tail wizards followed the man back to the village. Lyla couldn't help but hang her jaw open in awe at the sight of everything being back to the way it was! Thank goodness no one could see her reaction.

The ground was no longer destroyed from jelly acid, the buildings were good as new, and the fence looked stronger than ever! Villagers were cheering over their home being rebuilt.

"What is this?" Lucy exclaimed.

Happy added, "Just yesterday, the village was in shambles."

"Imma go check our luggage, see if it's okay, too." Lyla told her teammates. She was also going to look for some food. It's been a while since she was this hungry. It only happens when her magic decides to be grumpy.

A minute or two passes when everyone is gathered around the entrance of the village. Lyla hasn't found any food yet, and she was about to punch someone if her stomach growled one more time.

Lucy, Happy, Natsu, Gray, and Lyla stood behind Erza, who faced the village as she spoke.

"In summary," she began, "You are all changed into this form when the violet moon appears. Is that accurate?"

Moka responded with, "Well, to be precise: we assume this form when _that_ moon comes."

"If I understand correctly, this began three years ago, right? But, Moon Drip has occurred every night for the past three years on this island. You should have been able to see the light twinkling on the ruins every night."

Before continuing, Erza fell into the pit covered by leaves that Lucy had made before.

"Kya~" She screamed. Erza was more feminine than than the wizards thought.

She climbed herself out and finished what she was saying, "Therefore, that is the most suspicious place on this island, right?"

Lyla was a little unsure on how to respond…

"I don't understand. Why have you never investigated?"

Moka explained that everytime they tried to head to the ruins, they somehow ended up back at the village. It's as if the ruins didn't want to be found.

"Even we entered them… casually." Natsu said, which was true. It was more as if the ruins found them with how they came across it.

Erza must have come to a conclusion about all this. She walked to a clearing in the village, pink smoke appearing around her as she used her requip magic and change into barbaric styled gold and knightly blue armour with white fur lining.

"Natsu! Come with me." Erza explained, "We shall now destroy the moon!"

Salamander laughed in excitement while the rest of the team were completely confused.

"We're going to destroy the moon and return everyone to normal."

The village cheered, knowing they'll finally be free of their demonic forms.

"Wouldn't the ruins be a better place to destroy the moon from?" Natsu asked, a large smile on his face. He truly is a child.

"This will do just fine. Besides, the villagers can't get near the ruins."

Lyla was just as doubtful as the rest.

"Is she always this…?" Lyla whistled, holding up her hand to her head and swirling her finger in a circle.

"Sh!" Happy silenced her, "You don't want her to hear that, do you?"

"She's busy talking to Natsu while the whole village is cheering. I doubt she can hear out conversation. Anyway, I don't care." Her stomach made sure of that.

Erza used requip to summon a large spear of matching colors to her armour, ornamented by a red decoration just below the blade.

Natsu and Erza climbed to the top of the nearest lookout tower. As Erza shot her spear into the air, Natsu punched the bottom of it with his firepower, sending the weapon higher into the sky.

Lyla's eyes widened in disbelief when the spear disappeared into the distance and a large crack formed on the moon.

To even _more_ surprise, the crack spread past the moon, the violet sky shattering like glass. The moon was still up there, but its usual ghost white. Violet dust fell from the sky. Whatever covered the sky had been broken into such small pieces by the spear that it was practically sand.

Erza explained that gas produced by Moon Drip floated in the sky above the island. Over time, the gas crystallized and created a film. That's how the moon appeared purple.

Golden light shined from the villagers. Everyone expected them to return to their human forms, but were still scaly or had horns or sharp teeth.

"I'm sorry, isn't there supposed to be some sort of sparkle sparkle before the village turns back to humans? Shouldn't there be a feast as thanks for turning them back? Where's the food!?" Lyla would go food crazy if she didn't eat something real soon.

"I can't decide if you're cuter when your hungry or not." Lucy laughed.

"I'm not a child, blondy!" She flipped her off.

Erza smiled, "No, things _are_ back to normal. The evil energy didn't affect their appearances; it affected their memory."

 _Yadda yadda, the villagers were actually just demons all along. The magic affected their memory to think they were humans cursed with demonic forms, but it was actually the other way around where they could blend in with society by turning into humans._

 _Can we just get to the feast part!? I've waited long enough!_

 _Oh, and the sailor -Bobo- that brought them to the island was actually Moka's son that was said to have died. He was the only one who could still remembered the truth so he ran away._

 _Fooooooooood!_

To celebrate, tables were lined up with all sorts of dishes to please both the demons and the wizards. Natsu just ate fire off of lit torches. His magic allowed him to eat pure fire. In battle, he can eat it to attack with a spell several times more powerful than normal.

Lyla stuffed herself with more plates of food than the average seventeen year old should have…

Everyone quieted down from laughing and chatting when familiar faces entered the village. They weren't nice one's either. It was two of the goons that followed Reitei's orders: The girl in an outfit reminiscent of a maid's, and the short man with blue hair and big eyebrows.

Lyla took a sip of water as she watched. Apparently, they just came to apologize, though the way they talked at first sounded as if they wanted to fight.

Natsu dragged them into the feast and everyone continued celebrating.

"So," Lyla spoke through mouthfuls of food, "How'd you guys beat Deliora."

Gray explained, "We didn't. He was already dead by the time the ice melted."

"What was all that roaring then?"

"When the ice melted, we were seeing Deliora's last moments." Gray scowled when he pointed at Natsu, "This guy was stupid enough to attack it, but it just crumbled away."

"Weird, but okay." Lyla took a bite of fish, "At least we don't have a giant monster roaming around."

"Hey, Lyla." Lucy spoke across the table, "I get that the dark energy from Moon Drip affects the memory of demons, but what about you?"

"Huh?"

"Ever since we came to this island, you've been acting strange. Your magic, too."

"That's right." Gray added, "It looked like your shadow magic was trying to attack me back at the ruins."

Lyla swallowed her food so she could properly 'answer', "I dunno, really. I guess it's because I use a different type of shadow magic." She _really_ didn't need this now.

"Why would that affect you, though?"

"What type of magic?" Natsu asked, his mouth full of fire from the torches.

"The only difference is that I have a bit more freedom to what I can create. Kind of like your ice magic, Gray."

"That doesn't explain a lot…"

 _I wish I was better at making up stories…_

Lyla stood up, "I'm pretty full guys. I think I'll head to sleep."

"Wait, what about-"

"I think I was just seasick the first day. And the S-Class quest was stressing me out." She waved her hand as if to brush off the conversation. She went into the tent that the wizards were staying in and lied down on her futon. She wouldn't be able to sleep on a full stomach, but she could enjoy some quiet time in solitude before her teammates came in to sleep off all the food they had eaten.

The next morning, Natsu was with Happy while he munched on some more torch flames, and Lucy was concerning over the scar Gray had gotten on his forehead.

"I don't care where I get scars." Gray told Lucy, "Well, the kind you can see, anyway."

"Oh! That's well put!"

"What scars _can't_ you see?" Natsu asked.

"Shut up! I'm being cool here! Butt out!"

Lyla giggled, her mask hanging around her neck, "Looks like someone's a little jealous."

"What does that mean?!" Natsu yelled.

"I personally think battle scars are cool." Lyla crossed her arms, smirking when she pissed of Salamander by ignoring him.

The Fairy Tail wizards were all packed up and ready to go. All that was needed was the seven million jewel and one gate key reward.

Gray had to hold Lyla back when Erza kept refusing to take the money. She accepted the gate key, though, which made Lyla want to fight her even more. Lucy was happy, of course, since she still gets the key.

Lyla pouted in the corner when they were at the shore. There was a large pirate ship covered in horns and blades. The black sails were dulled in colour and ripped at the ends.

"I needed the seven million jewel to move out. Why couldn't we take the money, I needed it. I was finally gonna have a place of my own…" Lyla continued to mutter, kicking the sand at her feet.

The wizards waved goodbye as the ship sailed away. Lyla shoved Natsu to the side, making sure he didn't puke on her.

They almost forgot that there were going to be consequences to sneaking off to do an S-Class quest… Maybe Lyla could pretend to be sick to get out of it, like how she's done before to get out of classes when growing up. Though, that was very different… Oh well.

 **A/N:** I'm on time! Please R&R.


	9. Chapter 9

Lyla sat in a wooden chair with team Shadow Gear, three wizards that had formed into a group in Fairy Tail. There was Levy; a small girl the same height as Lyla with blue hair and brown eyes, Jet; a young man with orange hair and a brown coat with fur trimmings and a matching hat, and Droy; a tall and slim young man with a strange black hairstyle. With Natsu, Gray, Lucy, Erza, and Happy gone on a quest, Lyla ended up talking to Shadow Gear.

Everyone else in the guild was rather quiet. And if they were talking, it was about the attack on the guild… A guild called Phantom Lord had attacked the guild hall overnight. Now, Fairy Tail wizards resided in the first underground floor of the building. It was once a storage room, but is now a temporary pub.

Lyla managed to get out of punishment two days ago when they returned from Galuna. The master wasn't at the guild when they arrived, so she snuck off to do a job while Erza was distracted. She finished late at night and went straight back to Lucy's place, so she couldn't be there when Phantom Lord last night…

"We've always been on bad terms with Phantom…" Jet spoke.

"Wanna go crush 'em?" Droy suggested.

Levy didn't approve, and the others agreed not to go. It was obvious when Lyla first met Shadow Gear that Jet and Droy had a thing for sweet little Levy, so they would listen to her without a second's hesitation. They would also fight over who got to help her when she needed them to complete a task.

Lyla had her mask pulled down, eating some of the food on her plate. While on her job yesterday, she used the money she earned to buy a new mask instead of keeping the beige cloth she borrowed from Galuna. It looked like the same black cloth mask as her old one.

She only noticed that the team was back when Natsu slammed his fist into the wooden crate beside him.

"I can't agree with that! I won't feel satisfied until we've destroyed them!" He shouted in fury. He and the others were talking with Master Makarov and Mirajane, being informed on what had happened. Natsu didn't seem to be taking it lightly.

By nightfall, Lyla walked behind Lucy and one of her bondspirits: Plue. They were heading back to her place, and Lyla didn't feel like talking, so she just trailed behind the blonde the whole time.

Lucy opened the door to find Erza, Gray, Natsu, and Happy gathered around a table full of seafood.

"There's too many of you!" Lucy freaked out, throwing her suitcase she had to unpack from their job at Salamander.

"Mira said it'll be safer if we all stick together." Gray said.

"And that would be because…?" Lyla asked, finally deciding to say something.

"They've come all the way to this city, meaning they probably know all our addresses, too." Erza explained.

Lucy jumped in fear.

"I don't mind beating the shit out of a few of those Phantom punks…" Lyla growled, a dark look on her face and her shadow magic burning from her hand.

"You two are young ladies." Erza said, "I would feel uncomfortable letting Natsu and Gray sleep here unattended. So I decided to stay here as well."

"So Natsu and Gray were already going to stay here?"

"Why _this_ house, though?" Lyla was all business at this point, her voice low and menacing, "There's already me and Lucy living here. Why not just you three live in the other's houses?"

They all ignored the girls. Natsu started eating food with Plue, Gray laid on Lucy's bed to sleep, and Erza was searching through Lucy's underwear.

"You guys are making yourselves at home a little _too_ much…"

Lyla chortled, lightening up a bit as she said, "I feel better now that I actually don't own anything in here."

"That said… you guys reek of sweat." Erza said to Ice boy and Salamander, "We're sleeping in the same room. You can at least bathe."

"Yeah… if you guys are gonna bathe, imma go first before you ruin the bathroom." Lyla announced to her new roommates. She grabbed her backpack and closed the door before filling the tub to clean herself.

When done, she dressed herself in some night clothes Lucy bought her a while back since she didn't have any when joining the guild. Erza bathed next, then Lucy.

Lyla spent her time reading a book she had with her while letting the warm air dry her hair.

"Hey, Natsu. Why don't you go in next?" Lucy suggested when she was done and dressed. Salamander was asleep, drooling over the dining table.

"How about you, Gray?" The Ice boy didn't respond.

Erza requipped into some pajamas. She only had her towel on since she got out the tub.

Lucy sat down at the table with Natsu. Erza sat on the bed, Gray was reading some papers at Lucy's desk, and Lyla sat on the top of the fireplace that was off as she read, so the steel flue wasn't too hot to lean against.

"Why did the Phantom suddenly attack, anyway?" Lucy asked Erza, who was the only one paying attention to her. Other than Lyla, who would like some more background of the history between Fairy Tail and Phantom Lord.

"I don't know. We've had many brushes with them in the past, but there's never been such a direct attack as this…" Erza explained.

"Gramps should quit being a wimp and just kick their butts!" Natsu grumbled.

"You were awake?"

"You know he's not afraid of 'em." Gray stated, "He _is_ one if the Ten Saint Wizards, you know."

"Wait, why are you reading that so nonchalantly?!" Lucy freaked.

"Oh, you didn't notice?" Lyla asked, "You didn't say anything before, so I thought it was fine for him to read your book."

"No, it is _not_ fine!"

Lyla learned her first night here that Lucy was writing a book, but it hasn't been finished yet and she's too shy to show anyone. She has, however, promised Levy that she would be the first to read it once it was finished. Lyla never touched it since she actually respects people's privacy.

"What are the Ten Saint Wizards, anyway?" Lucy asked, clutching her novel to her chest so no one else could read it.

"A title given to the ten most skilled wizards on the continent as determined by the head of the Magic Council." Erza answered.

"Phantom's master is one, too." Happy added.

Angered, Natsu slammed his hand on the table, shouting, "He _is_ afraid! The one thing Phantom has is lots of members!" There was a dark and wild look on his eye.

"I'm telling you, he's not." Gray retorted, "The master and Mira are trying to avoid a fight 'cause they know what'll happen if our two guilds clash."

Erza reminded them that Phantom Lords guild master was also titled one of the Ten Saint Wizards, _and_ that they have a group called the Element 4, which were equivalent of Fairy Tail's S-Class wizards. The one considered most dangerous of all was named Black Steel Gajeel, which Lyla snorted when trying to hold in laughter.

"I'm unable to see what's so funny." Erza said, annoyed.

"'Black Steel Gajeel'? Really?" Lyla placed her book down beside her, "It sounds like such a childish name! It's more of something you'd call your pal to jokingly make fun of them."

"I can assure you he is _far_ from childish. Not only is he the most dangerous, but he's an Iron Dragon Slayer…" Erza informed. Everyone fell silent.

"Dragon Slayer?! So Natsu isn't the only one?!"

"There weren't only fire breathing dragons way back when." Lyla said, "I just find it surprising that there's another dragon slayer so close to us.

"Does that mean he eats iron and stuff…?" Lucy asked.

Lyla shrugged, "It would only make sense since Natsu can eat fire."

When the team was heading back to Fairy Tail the next day, they noticed a bunch of people crowded around a large tree in South Gate Park.

To their horror, Team Shadow Gear were hung onto the tree, iron bolts around their arms to keep them from being able to get down. They were badly injured and unconscious… On Levy's bare stomach was the Phantom Lord's emblem painted in black.

Lyla heard footsteps approaching and looked behind her. It was Master Makarov, and all the townspeople were clearing the way for him.

The old man stood there, tensed and furious, yet his voice showed only a hint of it.

"I can stand the place deteriorating into a run-down beer lounge…" He said, "But no father can stand idly by when the blood of his children is spilled."

Lyla flinched when Master crushed his wooden cane into splinters with just his bare hand. So this was the wrath of a heartbroken father?

Oak Town was in the North-East of the Kingdom of Fiore. Standing in the center was the Phantom Lord Guild.

Lyla wished she could throw the first blow, but Natsu exploded the front doors with his fire magic first.

Rubble fell all over, and as the smoke cleared out, the wizards on Phantom Lord saw it was Fairy Tail who had attacked them.

Every wizard spread out. There were at least 20 Phantom wizards fighting a single Fairy Tail wizard, but the fairies were stronger.

Lyla would've preferred to fight with all she had, but the Master specified that no one shall die in this war.

There were phantoms coming from all around Lyla.

"Shadow Guard!" From the ground, fists made of shadow wrapped around to create a barrier in front of her. She spun around and attacked the man closest to her with a spinning hook kick, then created shadow rope from her magic to wrap around everyone else; She spun them around simply with the turn of her wrist. Lyla let down the barrier so those wrapped up would be thrown into the other Phantom wizards charging at her. The phantoms in her immediate surroundings were cleared away.

With time to breath, she studied the area. She noticed a man crouching on the rafters above. She couldn't see much more than his silhouette due to the shadows covering him.

Lyla pretended not to notice him, and hoped he hadn't noticed her. She grabbed a man from behind her by the arms and swung him over, the breath knocked out of him when his back his the cobblestone floor. She then dodged a blast of magic by merging into her own shadow.

Shadow Shift: A spell that allowed Lyla to merge into shadows and travel around by them. She could even turn herself into a shadow, but the building was so large with such little lighting that she didn't need to.

She hopped across her opponents' shadows until she reached the dark corner of the wall. Traveling up it and onto the ceiling, she placed herself on the rafters behind the man. She could tell he had long, spiky black hair and wore a black sleeveless tunic and loose beige pants tucked into studded black boots.

The man watched specifically Master Makarov, who used his magical power to enlarge himself and become a living giant. Lyla has read about this kind of magic: Giant Magic, which is pretty self explanatory.

"Jose, show yourself!" His voice made the whole building shake. Jose was the name of Phantom Lord's guild master.

The man in the rafters was distracted, so he wouldn't notice if Lyla emerged with the shadows around her and slithered right behind him. She grew from the shadows like a plant. Her feet were still merged with the shadows on the wooden beam above the man's head, so she had an upside down view of the world.

If she could reach the pressure point just behind his ear, then he would pass out. Lyla had no intention to fight this guy. All the other wizards were pretty easy to fight, but he seemed different. Judging by all the iron studs he wore on his outfit, he might be the Iron Dragon Slayer, but it was simply a hunch Lyla had.

Lyla cautiously reached her hand out, aiming for the hollow of his head.

"So that's the Titania Erza." The man spoke to himself. Lyla froze.

"Laxus and Mystogan are staying out of the spotlight, huh? Arrogant bastards."

The girl suddenly felt like knocking off. A little blast of magic should sending him pummeling to his doom.

"But things are actually moving according to Master Jose's plan."

"What?" Lyla spoke out. She gasped and covered her mouth.

The man spun around, finding no one in sight. Lyla had merged into the shadows. The only way to harm her in this state was to break the wood she clung onto.

She could see that the man had red eyes and sharpened teeth like Natsu's. His eyebrows were just iron studs.

 _So this shit is Gajeel…_

The man spun around when he heard Master Makarov busting through the wall. He must be looking for Jose.

"With the most troublesome one gone, maybe I'll join the fray!" Gajeel said, forgetting about whatever he heard.

"Get back here you little shit!"" Lyla yelled as Gajeel leaped down. She hopped out of the shadows, falling after the Iron Dragon Slayer. He spun around as he was falling. Unprepared for what kind of attack he would use, Lyla was defenseless when his lower leg turned into an iron club, extending and hitting Lyla in the gut. She was slammed into the wooden pillar above her and began falling.

Gajeel resumed to what he was doing and safely landed himself to the ground, destroying whatever was beneath him.

"Lyla!" She heard someone shout her name, but she couldn't tell or cared who it was.

Someone had caught her before she hit the stone flooring. It ended up being a girl around Lyla's age name Laki. She had long and pale lavender hair with brown eyes and a red bow.

Laki let Lyla stand herself. She seemed fine at first, but almost fell again when coughing up blood.

"Do ya mind if I lean on ya for a little bit?" She asked Laki weakly, in a joking manner.

They watched as Elfman -A large man with white hair and a scar going down the right side of his face- and Gajeel fought, then Natsu butted in. Gajeel and Natsu demolished the place more and more with each attack.

 _I guess that's what you get when two dragon slayers fight._

A while later, the building began shaking, pieces of rubble falling to the floor. Everyone said how it must be Master Makarov.

Lyla tried standing up again. She could maintain balance, but it still hurt to walk. She could manage, though.

Suddenly, something fell from the upper floors of the building. Everyone fell silent when they found it to be Master Makarov.

Lyla's clad fists clenched, "You fucking bastard!" She shot powerful blasts of shadow magic at him in the rafters. He simply turned his arms into clubs and blocked her attack.

The Phantom wizards gained their spirits back, knowing that the fairies' master had been defeated. The phantoms were winning now, but if Lyla could defeat Gajeel, her guild might stand a better chance.

She climbed using Shadow Shift to attack Gajeel from behind. She reached the pillar he was on. A lance through his heart should do the trick.

"Shadow Make: La-!" Before Lyla could finish casting her spell, Gajeel caught her by the throat.

She gasped for air as he spoke, "You have some nerve attacking me a second time, you fairy ass."

His devilish grin and wild eyes portrayed a monster able to kill without a second thought…

He turned his head back to the battle below. Fairy Tail was retreating.

"Oh my? Turning back already?" Gajeel said in a voice of mockery. Lyla wasn't sure if it was to make her angry, or just to make fun of the guild as a whole.

Lyla attempted to pry his hand around her neck open, but she didn't have enough oxygen to do so. If only the Master hadn't forbidden her from going all out.

"I suppose you want to join your little fairies?" The only response was her gasping for breath. "Tch." He scoffed. "Since you're so weak, all your little friends are abandoning you."

"All too sad!" A large man said simply. He wore a green coat loosely over his yellow shirt and pale red shorts. The man had suddenly appeared beside the other wizard. Most likely a spell he can cast due to his type of magic.

"Aria?" Gajeel ignored the choking girl in his grasp. "You're always creeping me out. But anyway, good job getting the old man."

"It was all Master Jose's plan." The imposing man refuted the praise. "H-How wonderful." He began crying from underneath the bandages over his eyes.

"Don't cry at every little thing! You're annoying…" Gajeel rolled his eyes. "So, did they catch Lucy?"

Lyla, who had been holding herself up in order to breath, began to wildly smash at his arm and trying to curse at him.

"Eh? You're still conscious?" Gajeel asked in surprise. "What tenacious fairy scum." He laughed.

"It is sad. The girl named Lucy is being held in our headquarters."

"So we gave her a 'warm welcome', then?"

"Gajeel!" The girl heard Natsu scream. He must have overheard the two men. Blackness was fast encroaching on her vision as she fought to listen.

"-one day, Salamander!" She made out what Gajeel said. Everything began to dance before the darkness sealed her in.

It wasn't long before she could see again. Gajeel dropped the girl to the floor.

"Oops. We brought her along." He commented carelessly. The girl couldn't do anything but gasp for lifegiving air.

"Oh my!" Someone said. "What do we have here?"

"Some fairy that kept attacking me. I was teaching them a lesson when we left. Aria musta brought them along too." Gajeel said flippantly.

"How sad…" Aria spoke.

Lyla took this moment to shoot a beam of shadow magic at Gajeel and Aria, but couldn't attack whoever else was there before Gajeel turned his lower arm into an iron club and hit her up her jaw.

The dragon slayer leapt in the air to send a powerful blow to the girl, but she used Shadow Guard to block before using Shadow Shift to sneak behind him. Gajeel dodged before she could hit him.

"My, my! What a surprise!" The third person in the room said. Lyla had forgotten about him.

"Such a powerful magic for one so young! This is a very surprising development." They grabbed her shoulders and pulled her to her feet. Lyla focused on him and saw what looked like a court jester's outfit with wizardly flair.

"I am Jose, guild master of Phantom Lord, little shadow mage." The man spoke. Jose was a tall, slim man with long and straight, black hair reaching down to his shoulders and a thin mustache with a dark reddish tone. He had a long and sharp face, vaguely pointed ears, prominent eyelashes and dark-colored lips. He was so tall the girl had to crane her neck to look at him.

"What…" she gasped before wincing. Her throat was already ringed by bruises from Gajeel. "...do you want from me?" She managed to croak.

"Why do you suppose that I want something, dear girl?"

"People… always… do!" Her words were pained.

"How wise of you, child." He chuckled. "But all I wish to offer you is power. That magic of yours, I could teach you to wield it. You could have anything you want."

The other two men both made sounds. Aria began sobbing again. Gajeel protested, "She's Fairy Scum!"

"What?" Her mind was obviously still messed up, because she had no idea what Jose meant.

"All you have to do is join my guild. Then anything can be yours." He offered everything on a silver platter. The only thing was, she would have to abandon her friends.

"Ok," the girl shrugged in agreement. "The name's Lyla." It was becoming easier to breath.

In a few moments, she had a new guild stamp on her left hand. The hand of secrets and treachery.

"Welcome to the guild."


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N:** So far, I've updated regularly, aside from the reboot part. I hope we can keep this up! Happy April Fools day. And... please read and review.

Lyla stood at Jose's side as the guild building -which was built with six gargantuan metal legs that made it possible to transport- traveled to Magnolia. All the wizards gathered in fear of what would come. They all seemed to puny when Phantom Lord seemed to massive.

"They don't know I'm on your side yet." Lyla spoke to Jose in a chilling tone, "I could simply go in there and recapture Lucy Heartfilia with ease."

Even though Phantom Lord has kidnapped Lucy around the same time as Lyla, the blonde managed to escape and was now under the protection of her guildmates.

"As much as I admire your prerogative, I'm sorry to say I don't trust you enough just yet to send you on your own." Jose replied, sitting in his throne while the wizards around them worked. He took off his hat and had his hair tied up for the occasion.

Lyla stood there, her silence as an understanding she couldn't persuade him. Her posture was stiff and tall, her shoulders straight and her hands folded behind her back. The girl looked straight ahead at the magical circle that acted as a screen to view the reactions of Fairy Tail.

When Phantom's guild was positioned properly in front of the fairies', Jose ordered the wizards, "The Magic Compacto Cannon, Jupiter… Ready…"

The wizards in their purple cloaks charged the large lacrima -a magic crystalline substance that can be powered with different spells and has multiple purposes- within the building. The style of their uniforms unsettled Lyla. Maybe she could request to have them changed after gaining Jose's full trust. They reminded her...

An outer wall of the guild lowered, and a large cannon sprouted out, aimed directly at Fairy Tail.

A dark sphere of magic formed at the tip of the cannon.

"Eradicate them." Jose commanded, his face shadowed and his voice just as dark. Lyla's fists tightened as the cannon was fired.

On the screen, Lyla could see that Erza requipped into silver and black armour. She's seen a picture or two in a book about magical armour. The one Titania Erza wore was called Adamantine Armour; It's said to have unbelievable defensive abilities.

When the cannon fired, it was stopped -no, slowed extremely- by the barrier Erza presented. Pride swelled in her breast before a she cut it off. _Not right now._ It took a minute for the cannon to exhaust the built up magic power. Erza went flying with broken armor but the guild was safe, with only a massive gouge out of the cliff to show for the attack. For now…

"Makarov. And now Erza as well. Both of them are out of commision." Jose commented, his voice echoing outside the castle. "Hand over Lucy Heartfilia now."

A general protest from them reverberated. _Of course they would throw all their lives away over one girl._ Lyla shook her head as she watched silently.

"Then you'll get a second, extra-large, helping of Jupiter!" Jose retorted angrily. "Quiver in fear for the next fifteen minutes it takes to charge!"

He watched in pleasure as shock rippled through the crowd of wizards. After a moment, he summoned masses of Shades, undead warriors of darkness. They couldn't die and were cursed to steal the life of those they touched.

"What do you think, mageling?" Jose asked the girl standing by his throne. It was shaped like the guild mark on her left hand.

"Very impressive," Lyla forced herself to sound awed. It was impressive, it just wasn't _that_ impressive. "You are truly deserving of the title Wizard Saint and strongest guild master."

"Yes, of course." He waved and the shades -shadow creatures created from his magic- flowed out the castle. "Perhaps someday, you may take this position."

Lyls simply stood there in silence. There was nothing else to do but watch her former guild fight off the shade ghosts.

"However, taking my position would mean you have the same mindset as me." Jose continued the conversation, "Why did you join my side so suddenly? If anything, I would assume you were working as a spy."

Lyla arranged the words in her head before explaining, "My goal as a wizard is to become the most powerful. Joining a strong guild would help me reach my goals. Fairy Tail just happened to be the first guild I heard of with such strength. After fighting your guild, I realized that I might become more powerful quicker if I join you. Besides, it offers me the opportunity to search."

"Search?" His voice low, just as curious as he was suspicious.

"There are questions I want answers to. I suppose I would do anything to find them."

Jose grinned devilishly, "You'd be a perfect protege."

On his part, he wanted to train her into a leader to surpass all others. For some reason. Her magic had impressed him, shadow magic was difficult to learn and even more difficult to wield. He had also seen the desire in her, as he put it.

"Stare into the pits of hell, Fairy Tail!" Jose snarled. "You only have two choices left. Be destroyed by my troops. Or be obliterated by Jupiter!" He sat down and watched with pleasure at the shock and terror rippling through the crowd.

 _There is a third option. Flee, but none of them would do that._

"This is what you can achieve, shadowling." Jose told her smugly. His stupid pet names were getting annoying.

Lyla closed her eye. Now, she could see Natsu and Happy charging headfirst into the Jupiter canon. She opened her eye and returned to the side of Jose.

"Master." She informed in a monotone, "Salamander is trying to destroy the canon from the inside."

"Then I'll send Totomaru to defeat him."

"One of the Element 4?"

"He can control fire, shadowling. He would be the best option for a Fire Dragon Slayer."

Lyla nodded and waited for the remaining seven minutes it'd take for Jupiter to fire again. Six minutes… Five minutes… Four… Three… The canon charged up power, a dark sphere of magic forming once again. Two… The building began to rumbling as Jupiter prepared to fire. One…

There was a bright light shooting out the cannon, but instead of destroying Fairy Tail, it destroyed itself. Smoke exhausted from the broken weapon and the wizards below cheered as if they had won.

Lyla closed her eye again and could see that Natsu had destroyed the lacrima inside the canon. She opened her eye and informed Jose, who ordered the wizards in the room to transform the building.

The guild shook as components and parts moved around.

"Leg joints have been stabilized. Standing up!" One wizard said.

Once the building had transformed into a magical powered giant, Jose spoke out, his voice echoing to the fairies below, "Bow down and beg for mercy, you brats. Bow down to me, or you shall know despair until your final moments."

Lyla closed her eye again to check on Natsu. His motions sickness sure took a toll on him. Totomaru would've defeated him easily if it wasn't for Elfman and Gray's appearances.

She informed Jose.

"Tell me, how are you able to see all of this?" He asked.

Lyla opened her eye. "It's an ability I've had since I was a child. If I close my eyes and focus on a certain place, I'll be able to watch within it as long as there are shadows. How far away the place is that I can watch depends on my power."

"And what would that be?"

Lyla thought on it. She hasn't had to use her ability in a while.

"As far as the other end of Magnolia, I'd say. Give or take several meters."

"That's quite impressive." Jose grinned.

Lyla then turned her attention to the screen. It showed the fairies reacting to the giant. It stood still, its hand slowly drawing a magic circle.

"Tell me," Lyla asked, "what spell is it casting?" She didn't recognize the symbols. Every spell a wizard, or combination of wizards, cast has different symbols on the magic circle they use. The magic circle Lyla might use for a shadow make spell would be completely different to if she was using her Shadow Shift. Almost like a code.

"We're going to make a final attack on those fairy brats with Abyss Break." Jose explained, "It's a forbidden spell that will destroy all of Magnolia."

Lyla nodded to say she understood and continued to watch the screen. A girl who looked like Lucy walked up, offering herself to Phantom Lord, but she wore Mirajane's dress.

"That's not Lucy." Lyla whispered to Jose.

He didn't respond to Lyla, but spoke to the fake Lucy, "Begone, you imposter! Ha! I knew right from the start that Lucy wasn't there."

No he didn't. Lyla was the one to suggest they brought Lucy somewhere safe. That's when he sent Gajeel and two other wizards to track her down. She was also the one to remind him that Mirajane was just using her transformation magic to pose as Lucy and buy her friends some time.

A green magic circle appeared under Mirajane's feet, pulling her in and teleporting her into the giant's fingers. Slowly crushing her.

"You're such a detestable girl for trying to deceive us. Just watch while I slowly crush your comrades." Jose said.

Lyla opened her eyes, "Master, Monsieur Soli s attacking Elfman."

"Who?"

"A fairy. He's Mirajane's younger brother, the girl who posed as Lucy."

"I see… Well, Monsieur Sol will kill him easily."

Lyla closed her eyes, watching from the shadows Elfman and Sol fight. Sol was talking about Elfman's full-body Take Over. It's a spell where he transforms his full body into beasts and monsters he's fought and defeated before. That's the kind of magic he can do, but Lyla has only ever seen him transform his right arm.

After all the torment, Sol used a spell to trap Elfman in his own despair. Lyla was sure it would destroy him, but he was pushed over the edge. Elfman used a full-body Take Over and transformed into a large beast with yellow horns, long white hair, and a maroon fur body. His size and strength lead to Monsieur Sol being pummeled to a pulp. It sent shivers down Lyla's spine.

She had to watch from within the building, but she could see Elfman freeing Mirajane, hugging her as he transformed back into a human.

Lyla opened her eyes and turned her head to look at Jose. He didn't need her to explain to know Sol had been beaten.

"They've also discovered that the giant is powered by the Element 4. The fairies running around the building are going to make it their objective to-"

"Enough!"

Lyla shut herself up. Who knows what a Wizard Saint could do when they're angry, especially someone like Jose.

She dared herself to suggest, "I could go out there and help. Fairy Tail still doesn't know I've betrayed them. If I go out their, I could fight them with no problems."

Jose thought before saying, "There are still two elements left. It will be easy to destroy those fairy asses."

Lyla's mask hid her snarl. To distract her from her anger, she closed her eye and searched for the fairies and Element 4. She found Gray fighting the water element: A girl around the same age as herself dressed in warm, sapphire blue clothing with cream colored fur trimming. Her long blue hair was tightly curled at the bottom with a Russian Cossack hat on top her head. During the fight, she kept her pink umbrella in hand.

Around them, it was raining, but only in the area they fought. Everywhere else had barely any clouds in the sky. Lyla remembered being told how Gray's opponent was also called the Rain Woman, because everywhere she went, rain clouds followed.

Lyla continued searching through the darkness of each room in the Phantom's guild. She eventually found Natsu having trouble fighting Aria, the wind element.

She opened her eye and informed Jose.

"I understand that Aria can handle himself, but if you could just let me help with the Rain Woman I-" Lyla shut herself up. The look in Jose's eyes said that he was being pushed to the brink at this point. He only wants her to watch. He doesn't trust her enough just yet, especially when it comes to Fairy Tail. She had only switched guilds a couple hours ago…

Lyla clenched her fists and watched the fairies struggle to fend of Shade. If only she could just be given the chance to prove herself.

She turned around and stormed out the room.

"Shadowling, get back here!"

"I bear Phantom Lord's guild mark for a reason!" She spat back, continuing forwards without hesitation.

Lyla close her eye to take a quick glance at Gray and the Rain Woman. The ice boy had won. She glanced at Natsu and Aria. The last element was still winning, but Erza had arrived at the scene. She must of pushed herself out of bed after taking Jupiter's blow in order to fight.

Lyla opened her eye and turned the corner. She had to find the exit.

Jose's voice echoed through the speakers. He was speaking to Fairy Tail.

"Please listen carefully to this voice." He spoke in a singsong tone. What followed was the painful screams from Lucy. Gajeel had tracked her down and caught her, finally.

"We have captured Lucy. So we have accomplished one of our objectives." Jose continued, "We now have just one more objective to complete. That would be the annihilation of all of you! Worthless brats!"

Lyla hurried to find the exit of the building when in its Giant form.

"High Hell time!" She cursed to herself. She found a door leading outside the building. The air was putrid with Shade. Jose's magic had that sort of effect.

Lyla closed her eye again to see that Gajeel and Natsu were brawling with their Dragon Slayer magic and Erza was about to be killed by Jose.

"I guess this would be the best time to help my guild win." Lyla spoke to herself.

She used Shadow Shift to quickly travel around the Giant. When she finished, she sat on top the Giant's shoulder at the edge and pulled out a microphone and yelled through it in her best game-show-host voice.

" _Helloooo Fairy Taaaiiiilllll!"_ She pulled her mask down so everyone could see the wide smile on her face, "It's come to my attention that you are suffering from the attacks from Phantom Lord. Well, hate to break it to you, but I'm a part of the guild too." She held up her hand for everyone to see. Her leg swung back and forth over the edge while the other was folded up.

"Sorry, but Master Jose gave me an offer I just _couldn't_ refuse." She paused to soak in the view from so high up, "However," Lyla stood up, pacing back and forth, "For the past two hours I've been a part of my new guild, I realized that I was _really_ only wanted for my magical abilities. I'm flattered, but I think I can do better than just a few kicks and twirls."

Lyla pulled out a button from her back pocket and clutched it in her hand. Purple magic circles appeared all over the Giant's torso and head.

"To show off what I can _really_ do, I've decided to rig bombs all over the building. If you're wondering how I did it, these bombs were produced with my Shadow Make abilities. And _this-"_ Lyla showed off the button, "-is the detonator for all those bombs -Made from my Shadow Make as well."

"How dare you!" Jose shouted from the head of the giant. The wall had been broken through during combat.

"I gave you all you could ever want! I gave you a life of luxury!"

"Correction~" Lyla replied, "You could've bribed me into staying in the guild with that stuff. Honestly, all I need is here in Magnolia. Fancy food is good, but my stomach hurts after eating so much. Not used to it all that much."

Jose growled, which helped grow a mischievous grin on her face.

"Now where was I? Oh, yes! Destroying the Magical Giant of yours."

"You brat!" Lyla stopped herself and turned back to Jose.

"Well _well~_ It looks like you finally call me something other than shadowling. Kudos to you, my friend."

"Stop this instant and I'll make sure I make your death a quick one!"

"Hm… I don't know…" Lyla looked up at the sky, tapping her finger on the microphone, "That's a hard bargain you got there. What about if you turn around now and don't bother Fairy Tail again. _Then_ I'll make sure that _you_ aren't killed by the likes of me."

Jose growled, "How can someone so young be this malicious?!"

"Well, subterfuge _is_ my speciality." Lyla held up the detonator so that Jose could see it clearly.

"Bitch." Lyla pressed the button. A chain reaction of bombs detonated, destroying the Giant and shaking the whole place. Lyla silently apologized to Natsu, who she knew was suffering from motion sickness at the moment.

By the end of it, the Giant was covered in smoke and looked more like oversized rubble than anything else.

"Welp." Lyla spoke casually, "Guess I had my fun." She hopped off the shoulder, using Shadow Make to create a large slide an slid down to be with her _true_ guildmates.

She lost her balance and fell to the ground when the top of the Giant glowed a pale golden light. Dark clouds circled around it, and a magic circle larger than the Giant appeared in the center. Lyla shielded her eyes when the light expanded to Magnolia.

"Fairy Law." Erza stated.

"And what would that be?" Lyla asked.

"It vanquishes darkness with sacred light. It only vanquishes what the caster acknowledges as an enemy. It's an ultimate spell, considered one of the most legendary to exist."

"Well, I'm glad I'm not considered the enemy after the little stunt I pulled."

Lyla sat up, pulled her mask up with one hand as she watched the soft glow from Makarov's spell. That old man must be the one casting it. She couldn't think of anyone else with that ability.

When the skies cleared and the light dimmed, everyone cheered and rejoiced at Fairy Tail's victory.

Lyla smiled and stood up. She turned back to Erza, Gray, Elfman, and Mirajane.

"Don't suppose we have some soap and water to wash of this nasty guild mark?" She referred to the one on her hand, "I only put up with it so I could beat Phantom Lord from the inside. Sorry for not telling you guys beforehand, but I had no chance to see you guys after-"

Before she could finish speaking, the four of them gave her one big hug along with other wizards she has befriended during her short time here.

Her visible eye threatened to shed a tear, "Can't I just finish my sentence for once?" She choked and began laughing.

This was home. The wizards around her all cared for her and she knew they would fight to protect her just as they did for Lucy, and Lyla would do the same for any of them. After seventeen years, Lyla might have just found where she belonged: Right here in the arms of her friends.


	11. Chapter 11

"The request board is now reopened." Mirajane announced from the temporary bar, "Even though it is just a temporary counter, please take up as many as you can!"

The wizards cheered and hurried to take jobs. Lyla smirked and took a swig of her drink, her mask resting around her neck, of course. Since Phantom Lord's attack a week ago, Fairy Tail had been busy rebuilding their guild. Lyla helped, but spent half of her time doing work to help pay Lucy's rent and save some more for her own place.

She was grateful for having a place to stay, but she didn't like feeling like a freeloader. Thank goodness that she almost had enough to buy her own place.

Lyla heard something from behind her. She turned around, only for Natsu to come crashing into her bar stool and tipping her over. With the cup in her hands, booze spilled all over the ground and, worst of all, her.

"Why you little…" Lyla growled, grabbing Natsu off the floor by his scarf.

"Do you dare repeat that?" Lyla turned her attention to Erza, who was yelling at some large blonde guy. Wait… that hair seems familiar…

"Then this time I will be blunt." The man said, "Weaklings deserve no place in this guild."

With a cold glare directed at the man, Lyla let go of Natsu and stood up.

"You guys are pathetic." He continued. Lyla's clenched her clad fists, "Getting humiliated by Phantom is such manner. I am not even aware of your names."

"Oh, but I remember yours, _Sparky_." Lyla snarled, stomping up to him, "You're the no-good _bitch_ that thinks you're better than everyone." A muscle ticked in his forehead before he retorted.

"I have no time for your nonsense." Laxus said before turning around and walking away maintaining a calm facade.

"Don't walk away when I'm speaking to you, you bastard!" Lyla roared, swinging a punch from behind. He used his magic to transform into a mass of lighting and swiftly move behind her.

"And you were suppose to be the once to deal so much damage to Phantom? How hysterical!" Laxus grinned.

"Lyla, don't engage." Erza told her in anger meant for Laxus. Lyla reluctantly took a step back, her body turned in case he decided to attack.

"When I inherit this guild, I am going to rid of all the weaklings like you." Now Laxus was just taunting her, "I will create the ultimate guild. The strongest guild that no one would dare look down upon."

He began walking away. That when Lyla ran at him, ready to gouge out his vocal chords.

"Lyla!" Erza called, upset she disobeyed her previous orders.

Before she could land a hit, Laxus turned into lighting again and vanished.

"Coward," the young woman spat after him. She stormed back over to the bar and sat down. "I hate alcohol." She muttered before resting her head on the wood. It made her prone to outbursts like that.

"But you were just drinking it, you even have it on your clothes right now." Someone near her pointed out.

"Fuck off." Lyla retorted, not lifting her head from the cool wood.

"I'd rather not. You're Lyla, right? The newest guild member and the most foul-mouthed?"

"Gee, I'm famous." The teenager didn't move an inch. "I suppose my stunt would do that." She groaned.

"Things like that tend to." Something thunked on the wood. "Ah, crap!"

Liquid was now dripping from Lyla's hair, mask and shirt. She glared at the person responsible. "Are you fucking kidding me?"

"Sorry! I didn't mean to!" A man who had slightly shaggy brown hair covering parts of his wide, blue eyes. His skin tight shirt was also covered in his drink.

"What the hell." Lyla muttered before laid her head back down. "It doesn't matter."

" _Wow._ You are _really_ pissed after that Laxus thing." He said with a smile.

"Shut up."

"Hey, Mira, can I get two large drinks?" He asked.

"Coming right away!" Soon afterwards, Mirajane came back with his order. The man payed her and took a large swig from one of the cups.

Lyla lifted her head, hunched over and resting her head on her hand. "You seem almost as bad as Cana…" She said. Cana was a young woman infamous for drinking barrels and barrels of booze. It's surprising she doesn't get drunk after one.

The man laughed, "Well, I'm only drinking one of these. My last cup kinda spilt." He gestured to his midnight blue shirt. Lyla noticed that the collar hung loose around his neck.

The young man nudged to second cup of booze to Lyla, "Bought it for you. No need to repay me or anything. Seems like you needed it."

The girl slid the cup closer to her by the handle, "Trying to get me drunk? What's next, we have a sleepover?"

He finished his mouthful before replying casually, "Please, I'm a _much_ more respectable man than that. You should've seen my older brother when we were younger. He could pass as a pervert."

Lyla smirked, but the man could only see the twinkle in her eye with her mask up.

"Eh, he's matured over the years. I remember my mom would always beat him when she caught him teasing women."

She chuckled, "That's mean."

"You're laughing though." He sipped his booze, which was already half gone, "We're only two years apart, you should consider yourself lucky I didn't pick up his habits."

"Please," Lyla's voice perked up. She shifted to face the man and crossed her legs, "I could knock you out with the flick of my finger."

"You wanna bet?"

"Hm?"

The man rolled the sleeve of his right arm up and rested his elbow on the bar, "Arm wrestle. You said you could beat me with the flick of your finger, why not use our arms? Should be easier for you in that case."

Lyla rested her right elbow on the bar. They took each other's hand.

"Count of three." The man said, "One… Two…"

"Three!" Lyla finished, almost tipping her opponent's arm over. He reacted quickly and managed to lift his arm back to the middle. Their arms trembled trying to push the other's over.

"You're pretty strong despite your appearance." The man complimented, gritting his teeth when he realized this would be trickier than expected.

"I tend to have that effect. I like it though. It proves you don't need to be muscular to be powerful." Lyla replied.

"Sure helps, though." He said. Their arms started tipping to the side. It seemed like the man would win.

They heard some of the wizards cheering. It appears they managed to attract a crowd. Who knew arm wrestling could be so entertaining.

"Oh, my poor child…" Lyla pitied. The man raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"You forget: I'm a Fairy Tail wizard." She grinned. Her hand glowed in a black-purple. Beneath the bar stool the man sat in, a dark hole appeared, inhaling the stool. It closed just before he fell to the ground.

Their hands were still attached, but Lyla now had the advantage.

"Yeah! Show him what a _real_ man can do!" She heard Elfman shout in the background.

"Oh, well then." The man stayed sitting on the ground. His arm would waver if he tried standing up, then Lyla would win, "If I knew we could use our magic, I would've won long ago."

Wind picked up in the construction sight. Lyla used her hand to keep her hair over her eye when it became strong enough. Soon enough, there was rumbling. A pale gray magic circle appeared under their arms.

" _Might_ want to cover your ears." The man gave a mischievous smile. A loud roar exploded from the magic circle, catching everyone off guard. The marble bar top shattered, spreading to the ground and creating cracks in the dirt, powerfuls gusts of wind followed. All the wizards except the man covered their ears.

He took this opportunity to slam Lyla's arm into the bar table. Only then did the roaring stop and the wind settled down.

He stood up. "I win!" His smile was wide and childlike, almost like Natsu's.

Seconds of silence followed, but was interrupted with cheering and applause from the crowd.

Lyla stood up from her seat, rubbing her left ear that she couldn't cover in time.

"Well played." She said holding her other hand out for a handshake. He took it.

"What's your name, by the way? Never caught it."

"You can call me Sorren Colander. Your name?"

"Lyla." They let go of the handshake.

"That's it?"

"Yep. No need for last names. I'll just call you Sorren."

"Sorren!" Mirajane's voice called in an upsetting tone, "The master specifically told you you couldn't use your magic during the guild's reconstruction."

"Sorry, Mira!" He rubbed the back of his head, "I'll help clean up to make up for it."

Lyla smiled softly. She took her hand off her ear to pull her mask up -she hadn't realized she took it off during the arm wrestling, but found blood all over her fingers. She touched the inside of her ear with her other hand. Her ear was bleeding from Sorren's magic. He noticed when cleaning up the booze that he spilt and came to help her.

"Let's take you to the hospital to get it cleaned and fixed up." He offered, "Ah… sorry… I sometimes go overboard with my magic. I tried using less power this time 'round."

Lyla shook her head, "It's fine. I'll just go home and clean it."

"Nope!" Within the next second, Sorren hooked her arm around hers and dragged her to the hospital.

"Don't you think you're overreacting?!"

Sorren stopped and put his mouth up to her ear, "Don't you think you're underreacting?"

She winced when her ear stung, "Don't yell in my ear!" she winced again.

"I wasn't," He continued walking, "I was talking normally."

Lyla rolled her eyes. "Fine, but I want you to buy me a cupcake afterwards."

"Huh? Why a cupcake?"

"I haven't had many sweets growing up. I've never had a cupcake before." The last time she tried to get one hadn't gone well...

Sorren's eyes grew wide in shock. He took Lyla's wrist and marched forwards.

"Onto the bakery! We're going to get this woman all the sweets in the world!"

"Wait! What about my ear?"

"No time for that! Onwards!"

 **A/N:** Sorry it's shorter than usual today. I hope you enjoyed all the same. Leave a review if you don't mind!


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N:** Hey! I just wanted to let you guys who follow this story, thanks! I really appreciate the support and it always help motivate me when I read a review. I hope you enjoy. And sorry in advance!

"Thanks?" Lyla asked when Sorren gave her a baked sweet. It had been like this everyday since he had discovered she hadn't eaten a cupcake. That had been several days ago...

"No problem. Just try it!" He urged.

This time she had received a thick disk of bread covered in a glaze. "Is… is this another doughnut?" He nodded rapidly in reply. Slowly, she took a bite. She didn't really trust the food he brought her, although, it wasn't Sorren's fault. "Mf! Iffs good!"

"Do you like the cream-filled doughnut?" He asked excitedly.

She quickly scarfed the rest of it before replying. "Holy shit! That was really good. I loved it!"

"Yessss!" He danced around happily. "I'm glad you liked it."

"What is all this about anyway?"

"I'm doing you, and myself, a favor. I like sweets, and introducing you to them gives me a reason to go to my favorite bakery!" He explained excitedly.

"You… are very innocent." Lyla shook her head in slight amazement. "How much did your brothers protect you? How _did_ they protect you so well…" She began muttering to herself. "It's not fair to her…" she finally trailed off when Sorren patted her back.

"It's not that I was protected. I just really like doing this for my friends. And you're my friend now." He smiled brightly.

"You think of me as a friend?" Hope tinged her voice.

"Of course! We've sparred, eaten together, drank together and gotten patched up together. We are definitely friends!" He patted her on the head.

"Don't do that!" She poked him in the side playfully. A smile showed through her mask as her eyes danced happily.

"I'm older than you, so I can do it. And I'm taller!" He retorted, dodging her finger when she went to poke him again.

"Theoretically older! I could be older for all we know!" She poked him again. "Hah!"

"So? I'm still taller!" He tried to poke her side but missed. He tried again and right before his finger connected with her side, she turned into a shadow and moved behind him. "Eep!" He squealed when she started tickling him. "Stop!"

"No!" She continued to tickle him viciously. Sorren struggled against her, jabbing an elbow into her midriff.

"Oof!" Lyla exclaimed as her butt hit the floor. "I guess I _fell_ for it."

Sorren laughed as he looked at her. "I'm _floored_ you tried that _._ "

"I _hit_ that point a long time ago." They both were laughing loudly as she got up.

"I don't have anymore, sorry."

"It's fine, you _wood_ never be able to keep up with me." Lyla knocked on an exposed plank of wood near her. Her friend chuckled at that.

"All right! Let's go help with the construction. I think our break is over." Sorren pointed at Mira, who was waving at them.

"I've got a job for the two of you! Master even said you could use your magic, Lyla!" The woman yelled to them in her usual sweet tone.

"All right!" Lyla hadn't been allowed to use her magic in the area because of her role in the counter's partial destruction.

"Aw! What about me?" Sorren whined as the walked over.

"The Master said no."

"Why…" He whined and drooped. He slowly trailed after the excited Lyla.

"What do you need us to do?"

"We need you two to move the stack of beams over there." The brunette glanced to where her friend was pointing. A **massive** stack of large wooden beams rested there. "They need to be moved over to the stairs." Which were on the opposite side of the room.

"Got it." The slim teenager dashed over, eager to use her magic. Her magic engulfed her hands as she began lifting a couple of beams with black tendrils.

"W-why can't I use my magic for something? I'm older." Sorren pouted.

"Lyla has proved her maturity and has helped a lot with her magic. You on the other hand have done nothing but drink and eat and set us back. Go help Lyla." Mirajane shooed him.

"Not until I get-" A shriek and a crash from the stack of wood cut him off.

"Lyla! Are you okay?"

"What's going on?"

"Someone get the Master!"

People clamored over each other to see what had happened. The only thing visible was a trail of black and purple smoke. Sorren ran over and shoved through the crowd as fast as he could.

"Move!" He used his magic to make his voice heard. Just a touch of it. He knelt beside Lyla when the crowd darted for him. "Lyla are you okay? What happened?"

Black and purple sparks played across her body and floated around the smoke streaming from her. Her hands were pressed over her right eye as she knelt and tried to curl in on herself. A moan of pain slipped from her clenched teeth.

"My m-magic. I lost control." She gasped. "The wood hit me." He gently hugged her to his chest.

Makarov rested a hand on Sorren's back and told him, "Take her to Porlyusica. She'll know what to do."

"But…" Sorren's skin had paled to match the teenager he was hugging. "Can you stand?" He asked his smaller friend.

"Yes," she gritted out. She began to stand, still holding her right hand over her eye. With her left hand, she held tightly to Sorren.

Right before her legs gave out, Sorren picked her up in a princess carry. "It'll be fine." He said, more for himself.

"No…" she whispered, before going limp. Black covered her vision.

"Lyla, we… Hah…" Sorren panted. "We're almost there."

He looked down to check on her. Her visible eye was glazed over, half closed. Lyla's magic danced around her in the form of sparks; shadow magic created an ill aura around her. It scared him.

The man continued to run as fast as he could to reach the healer. The greenery rushed past them and he had to dodge several times. He crashed through a bush, carefully protecting his friend, and into a clearing. Porlyusica's house at last.

He dashed the last couple of feet to pound on the door with one of his dark boots.

"Porlyusica! I need help." He had been a regular visitor so he knew the old lady quite well. Better than he wanted to.

"What? What do you want, brat?" Porlyusica snapped as she yanked the door open and away from his foot.

"My friend needs help! She got hit by a wooden beam and her magic started acting up!" He said between gasps. The run from the guild to the cottage in the middle of the woods was not easy. "She passed out soon after."

"Bring her inside and put her on the sickbed." She commanded. The young man obeyed quickly and stood back as the woman began checking his friend. "What in the world?"

"What's wrong?" Sorren asked worriedly.

"Go! Get out!" Porlyusica screamed over her shoulder. After a moment, her demeanor softened and she told him, "I'll call you back in a little bit."

"Ok…" he acquiesced and fled the cottage. The clearing around the cottage was peaceful as he sat on one of the giant tree roots. The old lady's cottage was built into a giant tree. The near silence however, was not comforting. He knew his mad dash to get here must have scared the wildlife off. The only sound to be heard was the wind, sighing through the treetops.

"Lyla is super careful…" he mused aloud to himself. "What could have happened to cause such a dreadful accident?" He continued to go through scenarios that could have caused it for the next hour.

"Boy. Come back inside. Your friend wants to talk to you." Porlyusica's harsh voice startled him.

"Coming," he sighed in reply. He leapt to his feet and strode to the door. Lyla was sitting on the bed, leaning against the wall as if nothing had happened. "What on Earthland happened?" he demanded of his friend immediately.

"Sorren. Chill. I'm fine." She bit out.

"You don't _sound_ fine!" he snapped waspishly.

"I need to talk to you! Calm down and sit so I can be done with this." She growled. "This is important."

He sat and said, "This better be."

Lyla took a deep breath and began to spew her story. "So… I have too much magic power for my body, and if I don't use it enough, I can lose control and it pours out of me. It generally only happens when I get hurt. The wood hitting me was what triggered this." She explained as quickly and efficiently - and vaguely - as she could.

"But then why were you clutching your eye? The wood hit your side. And what's with the huge scar?" He asked after a moment of processing.

"When my magic goes crazy, it hurts my eye. I got the scar as a child and it's the reason my eye is magically sensitive."

"Now scram! She's staying here overnight. You can come back tomorrow and take her home. She'll be fine then." Porlyusica butted in.

"Good night!" Lyla called after the fleeing man. The door slammed drowning out his response.

"Now that the nuisance is gone, tell me more about your eye." Porlyusica demanded.

Lyla heaved a sigh. The old lady was just like _that_ man had said… "I basically see a third dimension in living things. Magic. Like an inner fire kinda. Then on top of that, I see the Shadows of your heart."


	13. Chapter 13

Sorren sat at the bar, the absolute picture of dejection. His head and shoulders slumped towards the bar, dangerously close to his full cup.

"Why the long face?" Someone spoke directly into his ear.

"Gah!" He jumped. The cup spilled all over the bar and someone laughed. He turned around and saw Lyla. "Lyla! You're ok!" he tackled her in a hug.

The teen held strong against his weight, barely moving backwards. "Of course I'm ok, oaf!" She laughed. "And you are way too easy to scare." She regularly scared him this way, although without the drink spill. Besides, she was fine, her back hurt from being meeting the log yesterday, but fine.

"Am not. I was just really worried about you." He pouted comically as he sat back down at the bar.

"I'm glad that's all. You looked like your dog died."

"No," he punched her shoulder. "My idiot friend hit herself with a log."

"Well, I'm certain she's fine now. After all, you took very good care of her."

"What?"

"I heard about your mad dash yesterday. You are really good at running." His cheeks turned pink at her compliment. He does not know how to deal with those.

"It's nothing."

"No, I really appreciate what you did." She couldn't maintain eye contact and looked at the floor. "It made me really happy to learn that." She hugged him before taking the seat beside him. The silence that settled over them was comfortable.

"Sheesh, if you two are going to spill so many drinks, I might have to stop giving you them." Mira, cleaning up the spilled drink from earlier, scolded jokingly.

"Noooooo!!!!" Sorren insisted. He really loved them…

"Not like I drink that often." Lyla retorted uncaringly.

As Mira moved away, an awkward silence descended. Sorren fidgeted. After a full minute of the silence, Lyla cleared her throat.

"I finally have enough to buy a house," she began awkwardly. "Do you wanna go look at houses with me?"

"What? Why?" He asked. "That's, like, a super special privilege!"

"You wouldn't be living with me or anything, dumbass! I-it's just… I've never done anything like this and have no idea what I'm doing…" she mumbled out as quickly as she could. "I know you're living on your own and you found it on your own and all that. So I thought you could help me. Cuz, you're my closest friend here."

"In that case, I'd be honored. Let's start by figuring out what you want for your house. Like size and location would be a good start. Ooh, and budget." He continued to rattle off a list of things.

"Geez… You've been through a lot of apartments, haven't you?" Lyla interrupted his tirade.

"Uh… is it obvious?"

"No, I just know you and it's not that hard to put two and two together. You're loud, obnoxious-" She began listing with a smirk.

"Hey!" He yelled over her.

"-irritating, and fun. And super cute, like a puppy." She continued.

"I am not a puppy!"

"And you drink. A lot."

"I do n-" he was cut off by a hand over his mouth. Lyla had long since stopped wearing her gloves at the guildhall, or what will be the guildhall.

"You're on your fifth drink, not counting the spilled one, and it's only three in the afternoon. Not to mention what you probably drank before I got here. You drink a lot, not as much as Cana, but a lot. I don't care what you say." The teen glowered at him. "And this is your last drink. I'll let you finish it, then we're going." She said with an air of finality.

He pulled her hand away from his mouth and retorted, "Fine, but we're stopping by the bakery."

"You're paying." Lyla poked Sorren's forehead before laying her head down on the bar. She was bored and Master Makarov had forbidden her from helping. She had given him the same story as Sorren, just a little more thought out and believable. If she had time her stories were quite good. The young woman sighed.

"You are not going to go scare the lazy people." Sorren told her firmly.

"But they're not doing anything and I'm not allowed to do anything!" She whined playfully.

"No. It's not fair to them because you're a freaking ninja."

"Assassin," she huffed under her breath so he couldn't hear. As soon as he took a drink, she disappeared. Not with her magic, but with her skills. She rapidly snuck around to find the perfect victim.

Aha! She had her target in sight and made her way behind them without anyone noticing. Nobody would notice her with the amount of skill she had.

Her fingers dug into Laxus' sides, eliciting a sharp squeak from him. She dropped to the floor as his fist swiped where her head was moments before.

"What the hell?!" He bellowed. He searched around for the culprit, but Lyla had already disappeared.

Laughing wildly, she sat by her friend again. He was laughing too. He knew she had instigated Laxus' rage. Said man was currently angrily searching for the person who had caused such an undignified squeak to come from his mouth.

"H-holy crap, Lyla!" Sorren gasped between the laughter. "I never thought someone like that could make a noise like that!"

"His sides a-are definitely ticklish!" She laughed with him. Most of their guildmates were also laughing at the lighting mage's anger, so he definitely wouldn't be able to pick out a single culprit. Unless he thought about how it happened, he wouldn't figure anything out, but the teen didn't think that was possible.

"You!" The snarl from the large blond man cause the teen to look up. He was pointing at her. "Sneaky bitch!"

"I don't believe it. Either he can actually think, or someone told him. Which I highly doubt." The young woman murmured to her friend. The young man at her side began laughing harder. The accusing glare of Laxus didn't bother her in the least.

"What? I didn't do anything. I've been sitting here the whole time." She smirked smugly. "Besides, whatever happened, I bet you deserved it."

He yelled in rage before turning and thundering away. "He's a thunderhead." She told Sorren loud enough that Laxus would definitely hear. "Or, better yet, a dunderhead."

Sorren snickered as Laxus turned back around and began walking towards her. His face was dark with an enraged scowl and the lightning he was so well known for danced around him.

"Come on," Sorren told Lyla nervously. "I'm done now, so we can go." He really did not want to be on the receiving end of the blond's anger.

"Ok." The two of them rose and as they passed the S-class mage, Lyla whispered just loud enough for him, "If you want a fight, name a time and place and I'll be there." Before he could retort, the two of them were gone.

"What was that?" Sorren asked, disoriented. They were outside the bakery. They had been in the guild, then black surrounded him for a moment and now they were here, in front of his favorite bakery.

"That…" the teen panted, "was my Shadow Shift. Not hard, but takes some magic to move someone who doesn't have the affinity. Basically instant, though."

"What do you mean affinity and how is it instant?" He asked.

"All mages have an affinity for a certain type of magic. Yours is…" she paused for just a moment, sadness flashing in her eye. "Yours is sound magic and mine is shadow." She finished cheerfully, as if nothing was wrong.

"And the instant thing?"

"Oh… Shadows are faster than light." She waved him off like it should have been obvious and strode inside.

"That girl…" he shook his head with a smile and followed her.

It wasn't long until the two of them began their search. A box of donuts and a list of things the house had to have were all they needed as they looked. After only a couple of hours, they had seen most of the properties up for sale and finished all the doughnuts.

"There's only one other house, but I don't think you want to see it." The lady showing them the houses told them. "It needs a lot of work and hasn't been inhabited for years. It also is a little far on the edge of the town…"

"I'm curious about it. What about you?" Sorren asked the teenager.

"I want to see it." She had a stubborn gleam in her eye…

"A-are you sure? It's not likely going to suit you." The woman tried to dissuade her nervously. "I-it's haunted."

"We're going." Lyla said flatly. The man, who had originally been mistaken as the teen's lover and then as her brother, sighed heavily. At least the brother part was really cool. He wouldn't mind having Lyla as a sister. They hadn't corrected the misconceptions anyway. The lady had changed her mind when she saw how they treated each other.

"She's not going to change her mind. If you really don't want to go, just give us the keys and wait nearby. After we're done looking we'll come see you." He suggested to the terrified realtor. She had been antsy all day long...

"Y-yes… That sounds wonderful. I'll wait at the cafe near there." She hurriedly relayed the address of the two buildings in order and handed them a key.

"Thanks." His smaller friend gave a sweet smile before turning on her heel and walking away.

"Thank you, we appreciate this." He patted the woman's arm. She was around his age, surprisingly.

"D-don't worry about it," her face was pink as she smiled shyly at him.

"Come on, dorkface." Lyla growled. She was glaring back at him and the woman, the woman in particular. He shot the poor woman a smile before joining the irate teenager he was helping. Together they walked briskly towards the edge of Magnolia.

"You know, it wouldn't kill you to be polite." He pointed out.

The young woman muttered something darkly that he couldn't understand.

"Repeat that?" He asked.

"It wouldn't kill you to not do that." She shot at him, obviously changing what she had said.

"What did you really say?" The only response he got was a disconcerting grin. "Put your mask on if you're going to smile like that." He shuddered a little. He couldn't help it when she was being creepy. He didn't deal well with creepy stuff.

A look of hurt flashed across her face before she complied. He knew she was only just now getting comfortable with not having her metal boots, gloves and mask on all that time. "Sorry," the soft apology floated out, barely loud enough to be heard.

"No, I'm sorry. That was uncalled for. You should keep your mask off. Then everyone can see your pretty smile." He smiled at her as they walked. His friend kept her eye glued to the sidewalk and shook her head.

"I think I'll leave it on," she whispered. His words had hurt her.

Damn it! Why did I say that? I know she's sensitive about her face! I just wish I knew why...

"I'm not telling you."

"Did…"

"You were thinking out loud." The corner of her eye crinkled as if she was smiling.

"Of course I was." He slapped his forehead. "It's the best way to embarrass myself, you know?" His cheeks were tinged pink.

"I know. You do it often enough!" She laughed quietly at him. Sorren knew she wouldn't take her mask off for a while now. Because of him and his stupid insensitive comments.

A heavy silence settled over them. It wasn't awkward at least. The silence coated them for the next several minutes as they walked. The building became sparser, the properties more spacious and the warm glow of the shop windows faded. Sorren followed the realtor's directions and stopped in front of a modest-sized, two-story cottage. It was obviously in need of repairs, but nothing too major. The property, marked off by a fence, was nice and large.

Together, they went through the whole house.

"It's perfect." The girl breathed in awe. She had already begun poking around the nooks and crannies. "The lady said it was within my price range. And it's got three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a library as well as a living room?"

"And it's far from town, and quiet and got a big yard. It meets everything." Sorren agreed.

"I can live with a ghost, and I really would like to personalize it." She sighed wistfully. "But this could take me a while…"

"I'll help you out." He patted her head. "Don't worry about it. And 'Team Natsu' will try to pitch in."

"Lucy is the only one allowed," she stated vehemently. "Ice Princess, and Fireplace are too destructive. I don't know Erza all that well and I don't want any of them in my home." She practically growled.

"You can try." He told her, amused. They both knew all about the constant invasions of privacy the two boys did to Lucy's home. Not to mention the flying cat.

"But thank you. Let's go buy it so I can get started." She turned before drooping. "The work means I'll have to stay with Lucy for a bit longer…"

"I'd let you stay at my place, but…" he chuckled lightly.

"No. You're a guy and my friend. I don't want to impose on you too!" She glared at him. "I hate rumors, and besides that, I already paid half of Lucy's rent for the month so I technically legally live there for the rest of the month."

"I know… You've told me this several times."

"Whatever." What little of her cheek that was visible turned pink. "Let's just go buy the house."

Half an hour later, Lyla was skipping happily with Sorren trailing along behind her. The day had been quite entertaining.


	14. Chapter 14

A loud thump echoed through the house before several coughs accompanied wheezing. More dust floated into the room Lyla was cleaning. All the windows were open to get rid of the dust and musty smells.

"Are you okay, Sorren?" She yelled. The only reply was coughing. "Did you get hurt?" The teen ran to check on him.

"I'm fine." The young man, hanging out the window, croaked between coughs.

"Let me guess, you dropped the box and dust flew everywhere. Again." She snorted. "I keep offering, if you want a mask to keep the dust out of your lungs, I've got extras." Her clothes and mask were only slightly dusty, while her friend's clothes were gray and smudged. His brown hair looked gray with dust.

Pulling himself back inside, he waved her off and sent more dust into the air. "I told you, I don't need one. They're itchy too! I don't understand how you wear one."

"My masks are not itchy. If you would fucking wear one and not be so clumsy, you would be able to breathe and see properly!"

"Not th-AH!" He was cut off abruptly by someone tackling him through the window.

"I caught the ghost!" Natsu yelled proudly, pinning the older wizard down.

"Get the fuck off my friend!" Lyla screamed and kicked the pinkette.

"Ow! What -ow!- did I do?" he whined. "Ow! Stop it!"

"Maybe jumped through my damn window and tackled my friend?" She shoved him off Sorren with her foot before relenting. "You both are idiots!"

"Thank goodness you're not wearing your iron boots." Natsu grumbled as he sat up. "Those soft boots hurt enough."

"Out of my house, thank you very much. The front door, not the window." She demanded.

"Ok." The fire wizard jumped out the window anyway. At least they were on the first floor.

"Thanks, Lyla," Sorren coughed from the floor.

"You look like a dust bunny, not a ghost." She grumbled at him and helped him up. "Natsu is an idiot. I better go figure out what he's doing here."

"I'll come with you."

"No, you will go home and shower, bunny."

"Seriously?" He quirked a brow.

"Your nickname is now Dust Bunny. Deal with it, bunny." Her eye glinted teasingly.

"You and your weird nicknames." He grumbled and walked away.

Sighing, the young woman jumped out the window and began following the crushed trail of vegetation. "I'm going to kill that Salamander."

"-ghost really does exist!" Natsu's extremely loud voice carried on the wind.

"I don't think you saw a ghost hanging out of Lyla's window." Lucy told him.

"Natsu, there is no such thing as ghosts!" Gray argued.

"Hmph." That was Erza. Lyla smiled mischievously as she snuck up on the five. Happy was sitting on Natsu's head noisily eating a fish.

"Ghosts aren't real, huh?" she whispered into Gray's ear.

"Kyaah!" he screamed girlishly, which caused Natsu to scream girlishly as well. Lucy and Erza jumped, but didn't scream.

"Natsu, Lyla, how could you!?" Happy cried over his dropped, squished fish before flying away.

"You guys are so easy to scare!" Lyla laughed wildly.

"That was admittedly funny to see those two scream like cute girls." Lucy snickered.

"Yes." Erza agreed with a smile.

When the brunette teen calmed down, she asked, "What did you guys come all the way out here for anyway?"

"To help you."

"To go shopping!"

"To see your new house."

"For food!"

The four of them spoke over each other.

"Ok. First. None of you are allowed in my house without my permission." Lyla stared them each down. "And the cat and dog aren't allowed at all. No food from my house either, animals." Her pointed glare rested on the two males of the group for several seconds. "Second. I just bought the place. I need to fix it. So, stay out unless I invite you in."

"Great."

"Good."

"Ok."

"Aw…"

"And why the hell do you want me to go shopping, Erza?"

"So we can get all the stuff for our trip! Loke- I mean Leo, gave us tickets. There's one more for you too!"

"No."

Loke was a wizard of Fairy Tail who was infamous for being the lady's man. Lyla knew of him, but they never really talked. It turns out Loke was actually Leo, the lion celestial spirit who had been cast out of the celestial world for indirectly killing his previous celestial wizard. Lucy had helped him and now Leo could go back to his own world. They made a contract together and Lucy now had the Leo celestial key along with Cancer, Aquarius and Taurus. This was all when Lyla met Sorren, so she only knew what Lucy had told her.

"Why not?" Lucy asked.

"I need to fix my house. Natsu tackled my friend who was covered in dust and made a bigger mess. So fuck off." The five of them continued to bicker until, reluctantly, Lyla allowed herself to be dragged along.

"Why the fuck do you want me to try on that?" Lyla asked, slightly confused.

"Because you'll look so pretty!" Lucy and Erza insisted together. The two boys had abandoned ship when Erza and Lucy dragged Lyla into a dress shop.

"It reveals too much." The teen said flatly.

"It doesn't reveal that much…" Lucy muttered in confusion. It only revealed the back, top of the chest, arms and legs.

"For you, that's not that much," the brunette said softly.

"True. We can barely see any of your skin." Erza commented, still trying on her dresses. She had picked out a lot of them...

"There's a reason for that."

Lucy gently asked"Do yo-"

"No."

Lucy tried again."Are you s-"

"I'm sure. I'll pick out a dress, but only if you'll drop this subject." Lyla pleaded. "It's a really sensitive subject. You know, like your father?" She had been there when Jude Heartfilia tried to beg money from his daughter. The blond wizard winced.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to pry." She apologized.

Lyla sighed. "It's fine. I just… have had a really hard life. It's not something I like to talk about."

"I understand that." Erza patted the shadow wizard's arm. "We won't pry." A smile lit up the teen's face.

"Moving on!" She said happily. "I already picked out a dress."

"Really?" Lucy gasped.

"I thought it was pretty and since I have to get a dress now, I can at least try it." She shrugged before walking out of the changing area. Erza quickly returned to modeling the dresses for Lucy.

After several dresses, the young woman returned and asked shyly, "W-what do you think?" The two women gasped.

"That looks great on you!" They said in unison.

"Thanks." Her cheeks pink, Lyla twirled slowly. The dress she liked was a soft gray color with long sleeves, a higher neckline and a floor sweeping skirt. It fit her beautifully, except it was a little long and her chest wasn't quite large enough for it.

"You should totally buy it! We can get it fitted and you can have that!" Erza declared.

"I really like it. It's comfortable. Just… not affordable. I just bought a house and I am basically broke. Not enough money for this anyway." She pointed out bluntly.

Erza laughed. "I'm paying for the dresses. It's not a problem for me."

"R-really!?"

"Why so surprised? Anyway, we're leaving tomorrow to Akane Resort, so make sure you have everything."

"What?!"

"Come on, Lyla. Erza's coming to the bar with us, you should too!" Lucy insisted. She was trying to get the other teen to come to the bar and gamble with the rest of them. Loke had given them tickets to Akane Resort as thanks for Lucy helping them. There was a spare for Lyla to tag along. She got Sorren a ticket with some of her furniture money. She still lived with Lucy for the time being, and she didn't want Sorren to be alone.

"No. I'll stick out. I don't want to ruin anything for you guys." She had gotten in trouble at the beach for looking suspicious due to her thief-like outfit.

"You won't! Just wear something a little less attention-getting."

"This is not attention-getting."

"It is here."

"I'm not changing. I'll go down and hang out, but I'm not changing."

"I'll take it."

That was how the brunette teen ended up watching her friends play and have fun. She had finally forced Sorren to stop avoiding her and sneaking around badly.

Akane resort was a very fancy place. A five star hotel, lots of beach that the team had fun on. Everyone was currently dressed up for the casino they were in. A lot of chances to win money, but even more chances to lose money. Sorren proved to be bad at gambling, so he and Lyla were at the bar, waiting for Sorren's extra large cup of booze to be served.

He wore a black suit with a golden coloured tie. Without the collar of his shirt covering his neck, Lyla could see a pale blue Fairy Tail mark on the back of his neck. Sorren said he had it that colour to match his father's eyes, which were the same as his.

"You really suck at sneaking around."

"You've said that several times already!"

"And I'll say it again, Bunny. You suck at sneaking."

"Just stop!"

"With what?"

"The nickname!"

"No."

"Yes!"

"No."

"Here's your drink, Mr. Bunny." A waiter set a cup down in front of him.

"Agh! You're impossible, Lyla!" He groaned. She had ordered his drink for him. She knew all his favorites.

"No, you're impossible. Just accept it! Claim it and own it!" She teased.

"No, ninja." He retorted.

She gave him a flat look. He couldn't see the lazy smirk she was giving him because she refused to take her mask off. "Just give it up, you'll never find a good nickname for me."

"I will! Mark my words!" They continued to banter while he drank as much as he wanted. The teen refused any and all food and drinks, insisting there were too many people around.

Lyla had learned during their vacation so far that Sorren and the others know each other rather well. Lucy didn't know him since she was new next to Lyla, though. Sorren and Natsu fought a few times; He mentioned they met as children once or twice. He and Gray talked a little, and Sorren was frightened of Erza, almost like everyone else.

After a while of their playful chatter, Lyla was startled by a loud explosion, followed by another not long after. She quickly scanned the room to see Juvia and Gray being confronted by a large, tall man with dark hair and some kind of metal mask and baggy pants. A blocky-looking man in a suit with a gun was moving away from the last place she had heard Natsu and Happy. A strange cat-girl was stalking Lucy. Finally, the most worrisome, was Erza looking horrified as a strange young man with blond hair and a deep tan spoke to her. She hadn't even realized that the lights had gone out thanks to the big man. She could see perfectly in the dark because of her affinity for shadow magics.

"Lyla? What's going on?" Sorren asked as she dragged him out of his seat. He was drunk. She hadn't expected trouble, so she hadn't monitored him too closely.

"Trouble." She answered, her voice tight with anger. She moved effortlessly through the dark, still dragging Sorren along, and tackled the man who had given her such an advantage. He stumbled under the sudden, unexpected weight of two people. Before they hit the ground, they were gone.

The three of them reappeared in Lyla's hotel room. In the moment that the bigger man was stunned, she tied him up with shadow ropes. Sorren tottered into the bathroom before puking his guts up. Not surprising because of the difference between this Shadow Shift and all the others he had experienced.

"Who the hell are you and what the fuck are you doing here to my friends?" The teen snarled at the man.

"A better question would be who are you and what did you do?" The man retorted. He wasn't reeling nearly as much as Sorren. He obviously had an affinity for shadow magics. Her magic had barely been taxed to transport him.

"I'm asking the questions here. Now answer me!" She snapped at him. Her friends had been attacked and she did not like that.

"I'm Simon. I am here to capture Erza Scarlet of Fairy Tail. I would hazard a guess that you are her guildmate." He responded, totally unphased.

Lyla inhaled deeply before she turned and walked to the bathroom. "Sorren are you okay?"

"I'm great," came the weak reply. Lyla shut the door gently. She vaguely recognized the man. Now she had to confirm it.

"Ok." The young woman walked back up to Simon. She glared at him harshly. Slowly, she pulled her mask down. "If you truly are that Simon…" she muttered before sweeping her hair out of her face with her right eye closed.

The man jerked in surprise. "You're her!" He exclaimed in shock. "Experiment S!"

The teen released her hair and smoothed it before responding, "Yes, I am..." she paused as disgust claimed her, "Experiment S." Thank fuck Sorren wouldn't remember hearing this.


	15. Chapter 15

A small girl with handcuffs to prevent her from using her magic walked beside a large man with dark skin and long white hair. She stayed silent, her head down. She glanced up, but wished she hadn't. She saw people of all ages dressed in tattered white clothing, being forced to work as slaves. She thought she would end up like them to, for there were even children her age and younger.

The girl and man approached two men with the same mask covering their eyes. One was slim with a blue cloak, the other was larger and fatter with a green cloak; He had a staff clutched in his hand.

The three men talked about something called the Tower of Heaven. Being so young, the girl didn't know they were already standing on it.

The man she walked with told the other two about her. About her magic that she hated using, about her power, and how she will be the perfect battery. She didn't understand what that meant.

The two cloaked men took her and the other man to the top of the tower. They took her to a an empty room with a giant lacrima inside. They hooked her up to the lacrima with wires and machinery.

"Experiment S is all ready." She heard one of the men working the machine say.

Next thing the small girl new was her screaming and crying along with the feeling of horrible magic tainting her body.

With her scream, the lacrima cracked and the ground shook, damaging the whole tower. The machine turned off and the pain ceased. She gasped for air and clutched her eye, which was bleeding.

She was taken to an underground jail cell, all alone. She was given a bowl of something that didn't even look like food. The girl didn't eat it.

She sobbed through the night. The bandages around her eye was so tight that it hurt more than the forming scar on it, but these people didn't care about her. They only wanted her alive for some Experiment.

"Hello?" The girl heard the voice of a child boy. It sounded like it came from the cell beside her, but there was a dirt wall between them.

"Wha-what do you want?" She asked through sobs.

"You're crying." He sounded slightly older than her.

"Yeah… so?"

"My name is Simon. What's yours?"

She sniffed, "I don't have one, but the men here called me Experiment S."

"Really? That's a weird name." She heard another voice say. The one of a girl's.

"H-how many children are there?" She sounded confused.

Simon spoke, "There's me, Millianna, Jellal, Erza, Sho, and Wally. And there's Uncle Rob, too. He's not a child, though."

The girl smiled through her tears. It's the first time she's talked to someone so friendly. Well, there was that older girl back where she lived, but they were forced to fight most times.

"Don't worry, child. Everything will be alright." An old man, perhaps Uncle Rob, said to her.

"I hope so." She replied, "I hope one day, when I'm older, I'll be able be free and see my parents." The older girl had taught her about parents once.

"Your parents?"

The girl nodded even if she knew they couldn't see it, "I never met them before. When I'm old enough to leave, I'll look for them and we can be a happy group."

"Group? Do you mean family?"

"Fam-i-ly?" The girl tried out the word. It sounded very strange. She'd never heard of it before.

"Yes. A family is a group of people who would love and care for each other. Your parents are your family, brothers and sisters, too. Aunts, Uncles."

So many new words.

"Uncle? So, are you my family then, Uncle Rob?"

"Well, I'm not your uncle by blood, but I could be. You don't have to be related to your family. They can be your friends, too."

"Do you have a friend family?"

Uncle Rob made a strange sound. It sounded happy.

"What was that noise?" She asked.

"Huh? Oh, you must be talking about laughter."

There were too many new words to learn. Did she have enough time to ask what they all meant?

"Laughter?"

"It's a sound you make when you're happy."

The girl tried imitating the sound. It came out stale and emotionless.

"It's okay, child. The more you're happy, the more you will get used to laughing." They all continued chatting, the strange little girl and the motley band of slaves. It was happy, pleasant chatter.

The girl yawned. Uncle Rob laughed, "Perhaps you should get some rest."

"Okay." The girl scooted up against the cold dirt wall, lay down and closed her eye. She curled her body up into a fetal position.

"Goodnight." She heard Simon.

"Goodnight?" She echoed, no one had ever told her a word like that.

Uncle Rob said, "Get some sleep. We all should."

She heard them lie on the ground in order to sleep.

"Oh, and about my 'friend family', I have one called Fairy Tail, a wizard guild."

The girl echoed the words under her breath. There were so many new ones she'd have to remember. She didn't want to forget all these nice words. The men she always saw only taught her cold ones and ones for spells. None of them were warm ones like these.

The next morning, a masked man and the dark skinned one who brought her here took her out of her cell and walked her back to the room from before. When passing by the cell with Uncle Rob and the children, she saw them eating the same type of food they fed her last night.

She couldn't get a good look at them, but the children waved at her. They got to get a good look at her; Her strawberry caramel hair and the big brown eye that hadn't been bandaged up. Sadly, they could see the new scar on her face. This was the first time one had been there.

"Yes, I am…" The teen had to pause from sheer disgust. "...Experiment S."

"We thought you died! We never saw you after that day…" The man said as he struggled to stand with being tied up, "We assumed the people there sacrificed you…"

"That's…" the teen sighed in relief. "That means she doesn't remember me!"

"Please," Simon spoke, "untie me. I can help you and your friend over there get to the tower."

"Why would I believe you? You tried to kill Gray!" Lyla's tone froze him with an icy layer on top.

"You don't understand. Jellal, he took control of the tower. He's been manipulating all of us. Sadly...I'm the only one who hasn't been manipulated."

Lyla sighed, not knowing what to do. She looked back at the door Sorren puked behind, then back at Simon.

"I haven't tried moving over such a large distance with others. Even if I could, I don't know the way. I was kept below deck last time I went there."

"I can get us there. You'll have to untie me first."

With a crease in her brow, Lyla flicked her wrist, causing the shadow ropes to disperse into the air. "Do anything and I'll kill you." She warned casually.

"Thank you."

"Explain everything to me." Jewel ordered Simon, "I need to know exactly what's going on. Besides, Sorren is still recovering."

With a nod, Simon told her everything. He told her how, after she left, Erza revolted against the tower and have all the other slaves do the same. She went back for Jellal, who was still inside. Jellal came back, but told everyone Erza left by herself and burned all the other boats to escape.

Simon explained the magic Milliana, Sho, Wally, and he had learned over the years. He told her about Uncle Rob's death, and what Jellal planned to do the with tower, and how he planned on using Erza as a sacrifice to power the Tower of Heaven.

"Well that's all pretty heavy information!" The young woman grinned sarcastically. The first adult to ever be nice to her was long dead. "How are we going to get there?"

Simon touched two fingers to his forehead and the way to get to the tower was suddenly in her mind. "Telepathy. Useful." Lyla growled and rubbed her head with one hand. "I think I'll be able to get there with all three of us. And all there too."

"What do you mean 'all there too'?" Simon asked warily.

Sorren, who had recovered some during their long conversation chimed in from the couch, "There's a physical price for this magic as well as magical. Don't worry, the worst that could happen is you die. Or lose a couple of limbs." Thankfully, the drunkard had been out of it enough that he wouldn't remember any of the information on her.

"Do you want to save Erza or not?" She demanded as she grabbed a small bundle out of her bag. She retreated into the bathroom with it and shut the door.

"Yes." He answered begrudgingly. He had some kind of respect for the smaller teen who had been able to tackle him, knock him down, and kidnap him.

A moment later, the teenager walked back out of the bathroom with the small bundle looking empty and her mask shifted so that it only covered her scar and eye. Her bangs still rested over it. She set the cloth back in her bag. "Let's get going. This shouldn't take but a moment." She gave a disconcerting grin.

"C-can I stay?" Sorren asked.

"You'll be fine. I calculated it and the worst thing that could happen across this distance is losing a limb." She hauled him up and dragged him to the center of the room. "You'll just feel numb at the end, I doubt I'll lose a piece of you guys along the way." Her creepy grin grew.

"Are you sure?"

"Just use Dark Moment and hold it. And don't you dare use Dark Burst unless you want to die." She told him calmly.

The man nodded and began to cast the spell. When the darkness covered the room, it began to swirl around the three humans. Lyla grabbed both men's hands and the darkness covered them before swallowing them. The room was empty of any life.


	16. Chapter 16

"Holy shit!" Sorren gasped as the black magic released them. Lyla, still holding both men's hands, fell to the her knees.

"S-sorry." She told him softly.

"Are you ok?" He asked worriedly, kneeling down to keep her from falling any further than she had.

"I'm fine. It'll take me a minute or two, but I'm fine. That was just a lot of distance in an instant. With non-teleportation magic. With three people." She pointed out and laughed. "And they said it couldn't be done!"

"And I'm pretty certain we all came out whole." Simon added.

"Yeah." Sorren shuddered.

The teen released Simon's hand and pulled on Sorren's. "Help me up, doofus. We can't get anything done with me on the floor."

"Of course we can. Can you walk?" He began to help her stand.

"Yeah, I just feel a little… lighter…" she trailed off. "And not in a good way."

"Are you sure?" Sorren asked.

"Yes! I'm fine." She yanked her hand out of his and walked around. "See?"

"Feisty." Simon chuckled.

"Fuck you. Are you going to stay here all day?" She gestured around the ornate gothic-looking room.

"No, I suppose I should go do what I meant to do. Good luck." The man disappeared in a shadowy cloud.

"Stupid prick. Let's go." Lyla ordered and began walking towards the door.

"You are really slow right now." Her companion pointed out.

"And you're really dumb right now. I just poured out a lot of magic to come here with both of you whole. It is not a small distance." She snapped at him.

"I'll just carry you." Sorren picked her up and carried her on a piggyback, "It's faster, so be quiet."

"Fight me." She huffed. "Let's get going."

Sorren walked down the tall and dark hallways, Lyla, using her ability to see through shadows, guided them.

"Tell me what we're doing here again? I was drunk when Simon explained everything." Sorren asked.

Lyla re-explained the whole situation, minus her past, and what happened during their night at the casino. "We're here to save Erza and regroup with the others. I only assume they thought we were taken too since they left without us."

"If that Simon guy is on our side, why did he leave without us? Where's he going? Where are we going?"

"He didn't say, but he said the team should be around this section of the tower."

Further down the hallway were echoes of two voices.

"Happy!" A loud-mouthed dragon exclaimed in pain.

Sorren picked up his pace towards the light coming from a room up ahead. He saw Natsu hanging on the door sideways with Happy pulling the green cat head off his head. Who knew Natsu's head could be big enough.

Happy was thrown back when the head popped off, revealing Natsu's real face.

"It's off!" The dragon said in excitement.

"What were you doing while we were gone?" Sorren judged. The two jumped when they say him and Lyla.

"Where were you guys!? We thought those freaks killed you!"

Sorren and Lyla's expression were unimpressed. "Thanks for believing in us…" They said in sync.

Lyla turned her head to the sight of the guy made up of pure blocks from before getting up from the floor. Natsu must have somehow beaten him and the cat girl.

"This isn't over yet, Salamander-!" He winced in pain, hunching over.

"You did a number on him." Lyla stated, resting her head on Sorren's shoulder. She never realized how much strain it took to carry such a load. Teleporting herself at almost any distance was a piece of cake, but it became trickier when she had to take more than herself.

"Lyla? Are you ok?" Sorren's voice brought her out of the daze she had fallen into. "Are you sure you're fine?"

"I'm fine. I'm not feeling sick or anything. Just a little unfocused." She lied. The room was spinning and her head was pounding. _How much magical power did I use to protect them?_

"Lyla, you don't look too hot. Are you sure you're fine?" Natsu stated casually.

"Yes." She replied through gritted teeth. She was too tired to do anything.

"If you say so." Sorren reluctantly said. "Tell me if it changes."

"Sure," she lazily agreed.

"What happened to her?" Salamander whispered to Sorren.

"Used her magic to teleport us here. I guess she not use to traveling long distances."

"I can hear you _both."_ Lyla clutched onto Sorren's bangs, pulling his head back just enough to hurt.

"Okay, okay! We'll stop talking about you!"

She let go then closed her eyes. It nauseated her to look around.

Speakers throughout the whole tower echoed with a man's voice.

"Welcome, one and all, to the Tower of Heaven."

"Jellal!" The block guy exclaimed in tired excitement.

Sorren followed Natsu and Happy around the tower.

"I am the ruler of this Tower. Both sides have arranged their playing pieces." The voice of Jellal paused… "So, shall we begin… 'Heaven's Game'?"

"'Heaven's Game'?!" Natsu yelled at the eyes of a statue, which the three wizards identified as one of the cameras of the tower.

"The rules are simple. I wish to use Erza as a living sacrifice in the ceremony to revive Zeref. In other words, one the door to heaven opens, I win. But, if you are able to prevent that, then _you_ win." Lyla shivered. "However, that by itself wouldn't make for a very fun game. So I have brought warriors here. The only way to reach me is through them. In other words, this is a three on eight battle royale. One final note… There is a chance that the council will attack this location from the Satellite Square using Etherion, the ultimate, all-destroying magic."

Her eyes widened in shock. As if her overuse of magic already haven't made her sick, now they were using Etherion! If only Lyla could contact the magic council…

"It's unclear how much time we have left. However, should the Etherion hit, it will mean destruction… "game over" without any winners." He paused either for effect or to let the players soak in this information, "Now, then. Let us play."

"All right! Now I'm all fired up!" Natsu punched his fist together, a flare of fire igniting from the impact.

Within the blink of an eye, Lyla stood up and punched Flame Brain with her ironclad gloves. He recoiled and almost fell over.

"What was that for?!"

"You don't know what you're up against." Lyla's voice darkened with fear and hatred.

"L-Lyla, please. A couple seconds ago you could barely talk-"

"I've met Jellal's 'twin', Siegrain. He knows how awful his twin is. I don't know what all is going on here, but I know what this tower can do and what Etherion is capable of doing. We have to get everyone out of here and leave before the cannon fires and we all die!"

"Lyla!" Sorren walked over to calm her down, but she smacked his arms away.

"You don't understand! This tower is pure evil! Jellal is pure evil!" She took deep breaths, even yelling took a lot of energy. "Based off of what Jellal was saying, he doesn't have Erza, meaning she's still safe. At least as safe as being in this tower can be. We just have to find her, find Lucy and Gray, and get out of here. Etherion will do the rest by killing Jellal and anyone else on his side." She glanced back at the blocky guy, then turned her attention to Natsu. "Do you know where the others are?"

"Left them in the dining hall somewhere to look for Happy."

"And I doubt they stayed there after all this time." Lyla then grunted in pain, the spinning room made her want to throw up.

Sorren came to her aid. "We need to regroup with everyone. That's the first thing we should do. We can argue about this later. Natsu, Happy, fly around the tower to search for Erza and the rest. Happy can fly us back to you guys once you find them. We'll wait here."

"Aye, sir!"

"Alright, Happy! Let's go!"

Sorren sat down beside Lyla, who lay on the floor to rest. The block guy seemed out of commision, so he didn't worry too much about him fighting them.

"What's your name?" Sorren asked the man.

"Huh?"

"Well, I can't refer to you as block guy forever. Besides, you're already beaten. No point in fighting."

"Look, kid, I have no time to talk to you. You're the enemy."

"To me, you have plenty of time. You can barely move. And, I think I'm older than you despite you having a stubble." Sorren rubbed his chin, "If not, then we're the same age."

The man smirked, "The name's Wally, kid. Wally Buchanan."

"Sorren Colander."

Lyla sat up suddenly, spooking Sorren.

"Natsu's in trouble." She wobbled trying to stand up.

"Hey, woah! What's wrong?" Sorren steadied her.

"I was looking around the tower and saw Natsu fighting one of the Trinity Raven. I know where he is, follow me!" She dashed away.

"Wait, Lyla you're in no shape to run!" He only ran after her to try and stop her, but she was too fast.

"He's part of an Assassin Guild; Death's Head Order! Natsu can't stand up to him on his own!"

Sorren huffed, trying to keep up, "Assassin guild?! Is he one of the 'warriors' Jellal said we had to fight?"

"Yes! This guy's very dangerous. That must mean the other two of the Trinity are here…" She mumbled the last part.

They entered a tall and dark room filled with cages large enough to fit a baby dragon. Lyla spotted Simon and Happy on top of one cage with a shirtless man standing on another. His neck up was that of an owl's with a few feathers on his upper arm and wings on his back. That was one of the Trinity Raven: Fukuro.

Above was Fukuro's jetpack spinning Natsu around in circles. A stupid attack unless it was against the motion sick Salamander. The jetpack dropped him, the owl man bolted for where he would fall, opening his mouth wide.

"Wha-what is he doing…?" Sorren asked, his eyes wide and an ill feeling in his stomach.

"Thats Fukuro. He's one of the Trinity Raven, like I said. He's part of a Dark guild called Death's Head Order. They're an assassin guild, and the Trinity Raven is the most powerful team in that guild. If these are who we're up against, then my idea to gather everyone and run would be the best option."

Lyla used Shadow Shift to travel up the wall, and down the chain holding the cage with Simon and Happy up.

"This girl…" Sorren grumbled. Why can't she just listen and let herself recover?

He used his magic to create wind beneath his feet, pushing him far enough to land on the cage. When he planted his feet on the rusted metal, something fell from the sky and landed on top of him.

"Oof! Augh..."

Lyla took Gray's hand and helped him up, then helped Sorren up.

"What're you doing here?" She asked the ice wizard.

"I was running after Erza when I came across here. I heard Natsu and figured he was in trouble." Gray answered. "How did you escape?"

"To put it shortly, I teleported Simon, Sorren, and I here from the hotel."

"So you never left?"

"Not until we came to rescue Erza and help you guys."

"Uh...guys!" Sorren got their attention, then pointed at the owl. He has swallowed Natsu whole, gaining a pink tuft of hair on his head.

"Along with the magic he uses for his jetpack, Fukuro can also absorb the magical powers of whoever he digests." Lyla explained.

"Wait, does that mean Natsu's…"

"No, the digestion process takes time, but he is still able to use Natsu's powers. Not to its fullest, though."

Happy flew at Fukuro blindly, just wanting to save his friend. The owl easily beat him. When Happy fell on a cage below, the owl used fire magic to blast him. Gray got Happy just in time.

"Oh? A new arrival?" Fukuro hooted, just noticing Gray and the others.

"Weren't you guys suppose to go after Sho and Erza?!" Gray yelled at Simon.

"This guy got in the way!"

Gray leapt down and placed Happy out of harm's way on a different cage below.

"Man, you always have to give us trouble… You should know better by now, you damn fire freak!"

"Ten minutes until Salamander's body is dissolved into nothing! And then his magic will be all mine!"

Gray leapt to the same cage Fukuro stood on. "Not if I take care of you first!"

"Impudent boy!"

Lyla stood there and watched Gray and Fukuro fight. She had to do something, but her adrenaline was running out. The strain she put on herself was returning.

The owl was starting to swallow Gray, too! _Damn it! Well, I have some time before my adrenaline completely runs out…_

Lyla leapt to the cage. Gray managed to free himself by freezing the owl's beak.

"Leave this to me, Gray! I may be weakened, but I still have the magical power to stand up to this bitch!"

"Hoo hoo! Another challenger?"

"Listen, motherfucker." Lyla's hands glowed with dark magic. It felt different than her shadow magic. "I'm exhausted and would like to end this quickly. You can either spew out Flame Brain now and leave, or get beaten into bird feed by me!"

"Hoo! Or I could swallow both you and that boy!" He leapt at her, his mouth wide open to swallow her.

She leapt in the air, spinning forwards and twisting her torso to hold onto the temples of his head. She planted her feet on the ground and swung him over onto the metal. She used her magic to engulf all but his head into dark shadows.

"I've beaten you once and I can beat you again, Fukuro, you asshole!" She had her hand pointing at his head, magic slipping out from it, "Now, puke Natsu out or I'll cut you open and get him out myself." She held a knife in one of her hands.

"Fire dragon Roar!" Fire spewed from his mouth instead. Lyla jumped back so she wouldn't be cooked. The magic around him disappeared and he escaped, flying into the air. The knife in her hand disappeared.

"It's been a long time,Yoru. I never thought we'd meet again! And I never thought I would see your true face! Hoo!"

"Yoru...?" Sorren murmured under his breath.

"Well, you get to see my eye. Trust me, that's all of my face you want to see!" Lyla leapt into the air, twisting and kicking him in the lower beak, then again in his abs. Thank goodness Akane Resort let her in with her boots and gloves.

Fukuro landed into the metal bars of a cage behind them. Lyla leapt up again after gravity dragged her down and cast a spell, "Shadow Bullets!" Pellets of shadow magic flew from her palm, hitting Fukuro all over. They didn't act like real bullets and pierce his flesh, but left just as much pain, maybe more.

The owl spewed Natsu out involuntarily and crashed into another cage. This time, the chain broke from impact and he fell to the bottom with it.

Lyla caught Natsu and laid him on the cage everyone else was standing on. She walked away and let Happy rejoice over his lifelong friend being safe.

"Lyla, what was he talking about when he said Yoru?" Sorren asked quietly.

She searched for a response in her head, "I had… fought him before. I don't know. I guess he mistook me as someone else." She was swaying on her feet slightly now that the adrenaline rush of having an enemy around was gone.

"You two seemed to recognize each other pretty well."

"Again, he must have mistaken me for someone else." Lyla walked away, sitting down as her nausea started to return. She and Gray began talking lowly, catching up on what has been happening on different sides of the story and exchanging info.

Juvia had apparently somehow made it into Akane Resort and helped everyone get to the Tower of Heaven to rescue Erza. When they found her, Natsu ran to look for Happy since the cat girl, Millianna, took him in as a pet. That's when Simon came in to explain whose side he was on and tell Sho -the blonde man who attacked at the Casino- what Jellal has been manipulating them all to fight for him.

When Jellal announced 'Heaven's Game', Sho freaked out and trapped Erza in a card to keep her safe. That was his magic: using blank cards to trap living being inside. He then ran to the top of the tower to fight Jellal himself. Lucy and Juvia went to search for Natsu while Gray ran after Sho to free Erza, only to find this place.

Juvia was one of the elemental four in Phantom Lord. She left the guild. Gray met her at the Casino and talked to her just before the attack. She was apparently thinking of joining Fairy Tail.

After the talk, Simon picked up and carried the unconscious Natsu on his back. Gray was beaten and exhausted as it was, so Happy wrapped his tail around his waist and flew in the air. Sorren carried Lyla on his back even though she had the strength to walk. It was more of the sick feeling she got from moving that left her unable to walk properly.

They followed Simon up a long flight of stairs to the top of the tower. They needed to defeat Jellal and win the game. Sorren wondered why Simon, the one who lived in this tower for majority of his life, wanted to defeat Jellal while Lyla, a girl he knew almost about, was terrified and wants everyone to run. What on Earthland did Lyla know about this place? Everyone who worked in this tower has been here since they were children, there's no way Lyla could have been here.

Natsu's scream of rage startled Sorren out of his thoughts. He needed to focus on what was ahead. He could puzzle out what was going on with his friend after they rescued their guild mate.

 **A/N:** Sorry for updating late, but it's a longer chapter. My friend and I did our best, so I hope you enjoyed. I was trying to get a double update, but school sucks too much to let us do that. Leave a review if you enjoyed it. (If you like this story, go check out my new story, which me and my best friend also write together, Shattered Past! I hope you like them!)


	17. Chapter 17

Natsu's scream of rage startled Sorren out of his thoughts. He needed to focus on what was ahead. He could puzzle out what was going on with his friend after they rescued their guildmate.

"Agh, I can't believe this!" Lyla opened her eyes, Natsu breaking the silence. "I lost to him, but Lyla won?!" He referred to the battle with Fukuro.

"You didn't exactly 'lose.' He just swallowed you." Simon added.

"Gray fought too." She spoke out, "I just felt like stepping in."

"And you're worse now than before because of it." Sorren bit. Lyla was too tired to deal with this right now… Using her magic in the state she was in took its toll, but the nauseated feeling started to go away. Exhaustion was the main problem by now.

Simon explained how the Trinity Raven were defeated and Wally and Millianna were on their side, now. Erza was freed from Sho's card and she was on her way to Jellal as they spoke.

"She intends to settle things all by herself." He said, "Those two have a quarrel to resolve that spans eight years. It might be their destiny to fight each other. But Jellal is too powerful." Simon turned to the Fairy Tail wizards. "Please, help Erza."

"Forget it." Sorren, Lyla, and Natsu said in sync. Happy had taken Gray to an escape boat with the rest of the group.

"Wha..?!" With Sorren carrying Lyla, that left Simon to take his anger out on Natsu, slamming him onto the wall, "Damn you! You refuse to help Erza, your own friend?!"

"He's Erza's enemy; she can handle him on her own." Natsu responded in that rare serious tone he had.

"I would prefer we all run from here, but Erza has a score to settle with that guy."

"I've known Erza since she's joined Fairy Tail. The only people I know to be stronger than her is the ten Wizard Saints. Even then, her power can challenge their own."

"No. Erza can't defeat Jellal!" Simon's tone lowered into a more worried one.

Natsu yelled at him for thinking so little of her.

Simon began to yell, "I'm not talking about strength and magic here! Erza is still trying to save Jellal because she isn't able to hate him." Lyla hid her head behind Sorren's as Simon spoke. "Jellal is a cunning man. He won't hesitate to use Erza's feelings to his advantage."

This was troublesome. Natsu, gaining the fury of the dragon inside him, bolted up the stairs, through every room and hallway to get to Erza and stop her from her suicidal wish to save.

"Sorren…?" Lyla spoke barely loud enough for only him to hear.

"Yeah?"

"Would you hate me, if I turned out like..."

He turned his head and smiled, "You're my friend. More like my sis than anything else. The only reason I would fight you is to knock you back into your senses."

She smiled, fighting back tears. Lyla hopped off Sorren's back. "I'm going to help Natsu and Erza. I may be weaker than normal, but I have enough energy to do _something_ to change this." She ran up the flight of stairs, following the path Natsu took to the top of the tower.

"Lyla!" He yelled after her but it was too late to stop her.

 _I have to get everyone out of here before the Etherion cannon fires!_ She's seen the blueprints, she's done the research, she knew what Jellal's plan was. If Erza had the heart to kill him, he'd be killed swiftly with enough time to run, but she doesn't. Not only that, but the lacrima would become a terrible danger.

Speaking of which, Lyla remembered the tiny lacrima crystal she had. A small magic circle appeared in the palm of her hand; a purple glow before the crystal was requipped into her hand.

"What do you think you're doing?!" She yelled at the Magic Council when a rectangular magical screen emitted from the lacrima

"Lyla?" Yajima wore a terrified expression, "Don't tell me your-"

"I'm here trying to save Erza Scarlet and everyone else from the Etherion and Jellal!" Her breathing became heavier when trying to yell and run at the same time.

"Young lady," The aged blonde woman, Belno, bit, "Just what do you think you're doing at the R-System?"

"Listen to me! Whoever's idea it was to fire the Etherion cannon is a fucking retard! I've researched what it can do! Jellal _wants_ the cannon to fire!"

She watched everyone's head turn to Siegrain, who she was told was Jellal's twin brother when he first joined the council. Of course, she didn't know who Jellal was at the time, so she didn't think it mattered to really care.

"Either you're _really_ stupid, or you're-" The screen vanished and the lacrima shattered in her hand. Lyla stopped dead, "-working with Jellal." She threw the shards on the ground. "FUCK! Fuck it all!"

"Don't worry, Master Siegrain." A pale woman with long black hair and red lip said. The magic circle in her hand disappearing after destroying the crystal.

"Thank you, Ultear, though it's too late. The Etherion cannon is just about to fire."

Sorren saw a small female just at the end of the hallway. "Lyla!" He huffed. She turned around, then glanced out the open window when a bright light shone from the sky. _Fuck._

Lyla sprinted away from Sorren, but he just chased after her.

"Wait! Lyla!" Damn it! Why couldn't she just worry about herself and realize how bad of a condition she's in?!

"Get away from me! The cannon is going to fire!"

"What? No!"

Lyla could hear Sorren's footsteps ganging up on her. The tower started to rumble shortly afterwards.

She felt Sorren's hand on her shoulder. The light grew brighter and brighter.

"Get away from me!" Lyla screamed, shooting a blast of shadow magic into her friend's stomach.

The light blinded them for a second, then the rumbling stopped; Dead silence followed.

Grunting in pain, Sorren sat up. He wasn't badly injured, it just hurt a little. Maybe a bruise at the worst.

He looked up from where he was hit to Lyla, who lied on the floor, unconscious and dark shadow magic surrounding her.

He ran up to her, but nearing her magic created a sick feeling in his stomach. He almost wanted to puke. Whatever kind of magic this was, it wasn't Lyla's. It was dark, poisoning her body and poisoning whoever got near it. She had saved him from it.

Sorren sat down, looking around and wondering how he survived that cannon. The walls and floors were made up of blue lacrima crystals. The whole tower was just one giant lacrima, and those in it survived, thankfully. However, that means that Jellal survived as well, and Erza was still up there, fighting him.

"Ahhh!" Lyla screamed in utter pain. Sorren jumped up to run to her. "No! Don't!"

For some reason, he stopped.

"M-my… Ngh! Magic is toxic! Ack-" She began hacking, her lungs stinging with every breath.

"I need to help you!"

"No! No-" _Koff Koff!_ "I'm only surviving because… Aghhh! Because it's my magic!" Beads of sweat traveled down her face. Her hidden eye burned and her body could barely function properly.

Using his magic, Sorren created a gust of wind strong enough to blow the shadow magic away. Since it came from Lyla, more was produced, but at least he could get a few inches closer as long as the wind blew.

"What's wrong? Is this something like back when we helped build the guild hall?"

Lyla took deep breaths. The wind cooled her off slightly, and with less magic choking her, it was easier to move without extreme pain.

"It's why I wanted to leave…" She huffed, "...before the cannon hit. These lacrima… they're filled with-" _Koff._ "-so many magical elements. With so much around, my magic becomes harder to control… I didn't choose what magic I wanted to learn. I was born this way…"

Sorren wanted to ask more questions, but he could clearly see Lyla wouldn't be able to answer in this state.

"So, you can't move, and I can't get near you without the side effects… Maybe, we could have Simon teleport you back to the resort. Better yet, a hospital so he can be properly tended to."

Lyla smiled through her gritting teeth, "Hah. They can tend my physical sounds, but this-" _Koff! Koff!_ "-I just need to get away from the lacrima. I don't want to risk Simon's life, though."

"Someone _will_ in order to get you somewhere safe."

They both heard the chaos upstairs; Lacrima shards fell from the ceiling due to the fighting.

Lyla used the rest of her strength to try and stand up.

"Wait, Lyla! Just stay still for once!"

"If I stay still, you'll have to carry me!" She choked up and began hacking again, she could taste a hint of blood.

"But you can barely stand."

"If I can't stand, I'll crawl! But I _need_ to get up there." Through the heavy breathing and trembling, she grinned, "In my state, I'm able to kill someone just by touching them. If I can just get close to Jellal.."

Before she knew it, she appeared at the top of the tower with Sorren. There was Jellal, an exact copy of Siegrain with his blue hair, brown eyes, and red symbol over his right eye. He fought Natsu. Erza lay on the ground, unconscious and badly beaten.

"Simon…" Sorren trailed off. Lyla looked up to see the tall man. "How'd you…?"

"Telepathy." He pointed at his forehead. Lyla smiled in response. Sorren still casted the gust of wind to keep the dark magic away.

"Watch out!" Simon huddled over the two wizards, blocking them from the debris caused by Jellal's spell: Seven Star Sword: Grand Chariot.

"The spell has as much energy as a meteor strike." Jellal spoke to himself, "I'm surprised his body is still intact."

"Hey! Motherfucker!"

The man turned his attention to Lyla, who managed to stand up despite her condition. She paused to give him some time to realize there were more opponents to fight before he could get to Erza.

She bent down to pick up one of Erza's words she had requipped before being knocked unconscious. "I'm not going to go down easily, bitch!

He laughed, "You barely have the strength to stand!"

In remarkable speed, she sprinted towards him, their face inches apart, the sword and his neck closer. "Wanna bet?" Her voice became altered. It wasn't hers anymore. It sounded deeper, almost possessed, like someone else spoke through her. Her mask was torn off long ago, revealing a devilish grin.

She swung the oversized sword with incredible speed. She managed to give Jellal a few scratches even when using his magic to increase his own speed that had beaten Natsu.

"What is this?!"

Lyla jumped, spin kicking him in the jaw. Jellal caught himself before falling, leaping back. The bangs that covered her right eye were messed up, revealing something dark underneath.

"Zeref?"

Someone could have mistaken Lyla for using teleportation magic with how fast she bolted to Jellal and swung her sword again. He dodged by leaping into the air.

"Jiu Leixing!" Nine swords created by lightning appeared behind him. They all pointed at Lyla before charging for her. She blocked with the requipped sword. It shattered and disappeared into the pocket dimension Erza kept her weapons and armour in.

"I don't understand. A few seconds ago, she could barely breathe!" Sorren exclaimed. It horrified him to see her fight this way.

"With the magical energy leaking from the broken lacrima, it must be easier to use her magic. This must be a sort of goldilocks zone between her normal magic and the dark magic that threatens to consume her." Simon explained.

"H… How… how do you know so much?"

"It's mainly a hunch, but I've been working with magic related to Zeref for eight years, now."

"Natsu!" The fire dragon slayer stood up. He was beaten up, but not out of commision yet.

"Destroy the lacrima! The more magical power released from them, the less Jellal will be able to use it!" Lyla shouted. Salamander ignored the strangeness of her possessed and darkened voice and did as told. She was fighting for them, that's all that mattered right now.

"You damn brats!"

Lyla's fist hit his gut, knocking him back. "Pay attention to the fucking enemy you're fighting!"

He responded with golden blasts of magic. Lyla dodged them all. She coughed at all the smoke that rose from the magic.

Jellal's heavenly body magic… It allowed him great power and speed. Lyla had that too, but only for the moment. Too much magical energy caused her magic to go haywire; too little and she was just a normal wizard. This golden moment would only last so long, especially with Natsu destroying lacrima behind the scenes

Lyla hit Jellal a few times, but her attacks were weakening. She began breathing heavily, sweating. She was growing tired and where Jellal had managed to attacked her began to ache. Natsu was doing his job at least.

"Keep it up, Salamander!" She praised, her voice returning to normal. _Damn it…_ Her body became sore with how much power she's used. She never had this happen to her, so Lyla didn't know her limitations or what she could do.

Jellal fired another blast of golden magic. Lyla barely dodged it. She spun around when she heard Natsu scream to see that he was aiming for him instead.

"Natsu!"

Something hit her cheek hard. She fell to the floor, struggling to get back up.

"Pay attention to the enemy." Jellal said, kicking her before walking over her to fight Natsu.

Sorren came rushing to her side. He began to feel a little dizzy. Lyla's poisonous state was gone, but her darker magic still lingered.

Wincing in pain, Lyla stared at the fight, which really wasn't one. Natsu could barely stand, and Jellal was casting a powerful spell.

He crossed his arms to form an 'X'. Their shadows bent towards the light of the spell. Wind swirled towards the dark sphere he created.

"Altairis…" She whispered.

"Huh?"

She bolted up when she saw Erza wake up from unconsciousness and stand between Natsu and Jellal, acting as a shield to save him.

"Lyla!"

She jumped on Jellal from behind. The sudden weight bent him backwards as she threw the sphere. Meant to be thrown at Erza and Natsu, it instead fired into a tall pillar of lacrima, shattering it it almost nothing and causing the tower to shake.

"You…" Jellal growled. He threw the weak girl off of him. She collapsed to the ground, officially unable to move. All she could do was watch that idiot Natsu consume shards of lacrima. All those magical element could've killed him if he wasn't so determined to fight for his friends.

Lyla woke up from a certain fire wizard's obnoxious snoring. She was laying in the single bed next to his. She winced in pain when trying to sit up. Her mask was taken off and her clothes were replaced with a dark grey tank top and water shorts. There were bandages all over her body; chest, hand, legs.

"Lyla, you're awake!" Lucy exclaimed in excitement. The girl saw her sitting at the small dining table with Erza, Gray and Happy.

"Where's Sorren? The others? I remember Jellal at the tower…" She shifted so her toes were brushing the carpet flooring.

"Sorren should be at the beach. Simon, Millianna, Wally, and Sho are somewhere in Akane Resort. Hopefully enjoying themselves." Erza answered.

"We're back at the resort?" Looking around, the room did look like their hotel room.

"You were asleep for three days!" Happy told her.

"Three days?!"

"Natsu, too." Gray said, "He's a real freak, eating Ethernano like that…"

"What did you just call me, Gray?!" Natsu shouted, sitting up from his bed.

"He's awake!"

He fell his head back on his pillow, back to snoring the day away.

"He's asleep!"

"Don't wake up if you don't want to pick a fight!"

Both Lucy and Lyla laughed. Lyla wondered why the fire and ice wizard never got along. The only thing keeping them from tearing each other apart was both being members of the same guild.

The girl went down to the lobby and outside, walking down the shore in search of her brother-like friend.

She found him sitting curled up as the waves washed his toes. He wore a pair of swimming trunks and a thin dark blue hoodie. No shirt, but the bandages covered up his whole torso anyways.

"Sorren, hey." She sat down next to him, folding her legs. She poked his cheek when he didn't respond. He just stared at the water. "Sorren. Sorren. Sorren." She growled, then pinched his ear and pulled it to her mouth, yelling, "Sorren Colander, listen to me!"

"Ow… Okay! Okay!" He rubbed his ear, "No need to send me back to the medical center here. My ears might bleed."

"Oh please, you're fine. I knew someone with ears more sensitive than yours."

"Oh really? What, did they have elephant ears?"

Lyla went to punch his shoulder, but he caught her wrist.

"Keep hitting me. Eventually, I'll predict when they're coming."

She flicked his nose with her fingers.

"Ow."

"Sure."

They both gave weak laughs, then fell into awkward silence. The sound of the ocean was soothing. The bright sun made it glisten and the smell of saltwater satisfied her nose. Too bad she had been asleep, she could've been enjoying this view for three days.

She looked to Sorren, only to see that he wasn't enjoying himself as much.

"Hey, what's wrong?" She asked curiously. He shook his head in response. "Sorren…" She growled.

"Well, you're going to hit me if I don't answer, huh?" The look she gave him meant 'yes'. With a sigh, he answered, "At the R System- Tower of Heaven...whatever you want to call it, it felt like I didn't do much. You were the one who risked your life out there. You were too stubborn to be told no and helped everyone you could. You even saved Erza and Natsu's _lives_ back there. Meantime, all I did was tell you to stop and rest for once. I guess carrying you through the tower could count too…"

Lyla lied down, stretching her legs into the water and folding her arms underneath her head. "You still helped, though. In a team, each member does something different to get the job done. One of us might just be better at doing something than the other, or just had more opportunities to do something. If you hadn't carried me everywhere, I would ran out of energy before I even got to Fukuro."

He gave a little smirk.

"Plus, I'll kind of need you in the future to tell me when to stop. I know how stubborn I can get. Picked it up from a friend. She did everything to stand up for me, even when I told her I didn't need her to do that. You'll need to be there to restrain me."

That got him to chuckle. "Is this the same elephant eared friend?"

She wacked him on the head, then stood up to walk back to the hotel room.

"Wait! I'm sorry!" He called to her. She could hear the laughter in his voice, which made her happy.

A few days later, the team returned to Magnolia. Their new friends from the tower left to live on their own. Well, live alone as a group. Lyla made sure to say goodbye to everyone, especially Simon. He had helped them so much, and she noticed the feelings he had for Erza.

Everyone was shocked to see the new Fairy Tail guild bigger and better than before. Lyla didn't realize how much land was between the guild and the rest of town. They walked into the courtyard filled with an open-air cafe and a merchandise shop, which she thought to be stupid, but people still bought the stuff…

Inside was a bigger guildhall than before. So many more tables and even a stage for entertainment. The bar was bigger too. Sorren decided to sneak over and see what drinks they were selling.

"Guys! There's a pool behind the bar!" He shouted across the hall in excitement. More about the bar than anything else.

Levy came up to greet them. She told them about the recreation hall in the floor below, and how anyone was allowed on the second floor. It's not just S-class wizards anymore.

"Oh, you dunderheads are back." The group saw Makarov approaching them with Juvia Lockers behind him. She had her hair cut a little shorter and wore a pretty ocean blue and pale beige sleeveless dress with shoulder length gloves and knee high boots.

"It's a pleasure to work with you!" She curtsied.

"It's nice to have you." Lyla said.

"Thanks for helping us at Akane." Erza thanked.

"And there's one other new member. Come on. Say hello." The group turned their head to where Makarov looked.

Natsu, Gray, and Lyla positioned themselves in defensive stances, ready for a fight when they realized the new member was Gajeel. That stupid bastard was the reason the guild needed to be rebuilt in the first place. Not to mention how he treated Lucy back when Phantom Lord attacked them. Juvia was okay, but this bastard is another story.

"Screw this! I can't work with this guy!" Natsu slammed his hand on the table the iron dragon slayer sat at.

"Don't worry. I don't plan to be your buddy." Gajeel stood up. Lyla noticed the black Fairy Tail logo on his left shoulder. "All I want is work. It _disgusts_ me that I ended up working at the guild I can stand the least."

"Say what?!"

Although Lyla hated it, she broke the two dragon slayers up. This was worse than Natsu and Gray…

"Natsu, I hate this guy as much as the next wizard here, but this was Makarov's decision. We have to respect it."

Natsu walked off, complaining about the changes in the guild and its members.

"If this place accepts traitors back in, then I sure as hell can work here. Even if I don't want to!" The ex-Phantom wizard targeted that sentence at Lyla.

"I was no traitor! I pretended to be a part of your fucking previous guild for the sole purpose of helping mine! Everything I did back then was to help Fairy Tail."

He growled, then walked in the opposite direction Natsu went.

Lyla found Sorren at the bar where she left him. She vented to him about Gajeel, which he shared his opinions on the situation too. He didn't like the master's decision, but it's not like they could do anything about it.

"I'll deal with him being in the same building as me, but I'm doing no more than that." He said before gulping the rest of his booze.

Afterwards, they walked to Lyla's place. They still needed to clean and there were plenty of hours in day day to do that.

"Man, a whole month of Fairy Tail." The girl said, combing her bangs with her fingers.

"If you stayed with us that long, then you're either really strong, or really stupid." Sorren joked.

"Both. I was stupid for joining this guild, but strong for putting up with it."

"I don't know wether to take that as a compliment or insult."

"Yes."

The confused expression on his face made her laugh.

"Hey, I'm just curious, but what kind of magic do you use?" Lyla asked.

"Hm?"

"You haven't it used it often. And no one has mentioned it other than how destructive you can get."

"Well, with Thunder Magic, things tend to get broken."

"Hm… I think I've heard of it before. I've read a lot of books about magic growing up."

"I found a book on it in the library when I was younger. I practiced it until I knew the basics. I joined Fairy Tail after that and continued to practice. My mother didn't approve, but I was too late to tell me know by the time she figured out what I've been doing." They both shared a laugh.

"I guess your mother didn't like the whole wizarding thing?"

"Her main impression was Fairy Tail's reputation."

"Ah… Well, that would explain it."

"Heh, yeah. My dad liked me and my brothers to explore new things, figure out what we want to do for a living. For me, that was being a wizard."

"Sounds like you have a nice family. I would like to meet them one day."

"That's the last thing I need: My mom constantly teasing me about bringing a girl over. Oh, and don't get me _started_ on how my brothers would react!"

Lyla giggled as she opened the front door to her soon-to-be home. She walked in, but shushed Sorren when he followed.

"What?" He whispered.

"I think there's someone here."


	18. Chapter 18

Lyla pulled up her mask over her face. She sensed a different source of magical energy inside. The cobwebs in the corners were gone and the dusty floor had footprints. She used Shadow Shift to silently get across the building. Upstairs, she saw the cleaning supplies leaning against the bathroom doorway when they haven't even gotten to cleaning the upstairs before they left.

She emerged from the dark wall, her hand glowing with shadow magic as she tapped the door with her foot, which made it creak open just enough for her to slide through.

She couldn't see anyone, but the bathtub had been cleaned and there was a pair of dirty clothing on the floor.

She cautiously tiptoed to the center of the unlit room. Silence. That's all there was.

Maybe she was just paranoid? Or maybe there was someone here while they were on vacation, but they had already left.

Lyla sighed in relief, her magic disappearing. "Mph!" Someone's hands wrapped over her mouth, keeping her from screaming. She couldn't bite their fingers due to the mask, but she could bend over and flip them over.

"Gah!" The person grunted in pain; a woman.

"Sorren!" She called for help. The woman stood up and swung to punch Lyla in the face, but she dodged. She had an advantage with the ability to see in the dark.

"I'm coming!" Sorren shouted, his boots thudding on each step he ran up.

The woman grabbed Lyla by the hands and spun, letting go so she flew into Sorren and knocked them both onto the ground.

The woman ran out the bathroom and down the staircase. She had short black hair brushing her shoulders and wore a black coat.

"After her! She's getting away!" Lyla chased the woman, jumping on top of her before she could escape out the front door.

The woman tipped Lyla over and sat on top of her, wrapping her hands around her neck to choke her.

"Fuck you!" Lyla gasped, clutching her hand on the woman's to tear them apart.

"Lyla!" Sorren shouted.

"Huh?" The woman's emerald eyes widened and her hands recoiled from Lyla's neck.

The teenager took this opportunity to lift her feet up and kick the woman in the stomach. She flew back into Sorren, who pinned her arms to her body to keep her from moving.

"Let go of me, you bitch!" She shouted.

"Great, another foul mouth..." Sorren mumbled sarcastically.

"Would you rather get cursed at or beaten up?" Lyla asked, the breaking and entering the source of her aggravated tone.

"Let's tie her up and turn her into authorities. A few years in jail definitely changes a person."

"No!" The woman shrieked, "I've been in prison before!"

"Then you know how horrible it is." Lyla held her hand with shadow magic up to the woman's face.

She stared at the magic, then at Lyla. "Shadow Magic?"

"What of it?"

"Well, I've seen shadow magic users. It doesn't look like that."

"What do you mean?"

"Lyla, I don't think we should be wasting time questioning-"

"Shush." The girl turned back to the woman, waiting for an answer.

Instead, she replied asking, "So, you're Lyla?"

"None of your business."

"Got a last name?"

"Keep asking questions and the only answer will be my fist to your face!"

The woman kept quiet, examining Lyla's face. "Why cover your right eye? Are you blind in that eye or just emo?"

"Rrgh…!"

"Lyla!" Sorren scolded. "Just go get the authorities. I can manage keeping this burglar from escaping."

"For the record, I didn't burgal anything. There's nothing to steal. I thought this place was abandoned. Looks like it hasn't been cleaned in decades." The woman stood up straight, seemingly forgetting a tall man was around her. She talked as if she was in control of the situation.

"Well, I bought it about a week ago. We left on a trip so I didn't have time to clean this place up."

"Can't blame a woman for just trying to find a place to stay."

For some reason, Sorren released the woman suddenly and stepped back.

"What the fuck is wrong with y-"

"Look behind her ear." He said.

"What-"

"Her ear. Just look."

The woman rubbed where he said to check. She made a noise when Lyla roughly pulled her hair out of the way and bent her ear to see a pink Fairy Tail logo along the woman's jawline and up to her ear.

"God dammit…" She cursed under her breath. "First Gajeel and now this bitch."

"Oh? I guess you're Fairy Tail wizards, too. I heard of someone named Gajeel. People kept complaining about him."

"Name." Lyla ordered. "First and last."

"Laura Ragstone. Yours?"

"That's Sorren Colander and I'm Lyla."

"No last name?"

She shook her head.

Laura crossed her arms, tilting her head. "Well, I didn't give you a last name when we were children."

"Would've appreciated it, though."

"Didn't need to. You kept calling yourself Lyla Ragstone."

A few seconds of silence fell, then broke with excitement squeals from both girls. They embraced in a tight and warm hug.

"My god, girl! You look so different!" Lyla exclaimed.

"You grew so tall! And you let your hair grow out!" Laura replied. She held her hand to the top of her head, comparing heights. "I'm still taller, though."

Lyla growled -yet smiled- in response.

"Woah, woah, woah. Hang on." Sorren was very confused by the sudden mood change. "You two know each other?"

"Well, if you don't count basically growing up together, no we don't know each other." Lyla snarked.

"But you… huh?"

"We were orphans together and we got seperated years ago." Laura explained. Lyla shot her friend a grateful look.

"By the way, you are so lucky I'm still tired! I could have seriously hurt you!" Lyla changed the subject. "You should have been more careful."

"Yeah, well, I'm fine. What the hell happened to you all these years?" Laura gently punched the other young woman's shoulder. The smaller teen shot a look at Sorren.

"Well, recently, I was basically kidnapped and brought to Akane resort." She began to recount what had happened during their supposed vacation and everything else that had happened to her since she joined the guild. Sorren began to interject and help explain. When she finished, she sighed. "This guild is crazy, but far sweeter than what I used to do. I like it here and I think you'll enjoy it."

"It sounds like an interesting experience. I'll definitely get stronger here."

"If you can handle the constant mushy stuff in between."

Sorren poked at Lyla and missed. "You mean like what you always disappear for?" He asked.

"Hush. I don't deal well with it and you know that." She flicked his forehead. "And quit. I'll always win this."

"You seem to have made some good friends. Or even something more?" Laura teased jokingly.

Lyla reacted dramatically. "My god! I keep telling people! Sorren is like a drunk Dust Bunny! He's more like a brother to me than anything else."

"Hey! I'm not a bunny." Sorren muttered and pouted. "Besides, I bet I'm older than you both."

"Um… how old are you?" Laura asked awkwardly. So far, she had spoken directly to Lyla and basically ignored the other wizard.

"I'm twenty. How old are you?"

"She's eighteen." Lyla answered. "You're older than us, but far less mature, bunny. So hush."

"How come you know exactly how old she is? You don't know how old you are." Sorren asked. "You guys haven't seen each other in years."

"Um…" Words fled the young woman.

"She was orphaned from birth. I wasn't. Plus, she's smart. She always remembered my birthday when we were together." Laura jumped to defend the girl.

"Yeah." Lyla picked at her mask. "You're still doing it."

"Sorry. It's just something that I got used to doing." Their eyes met and they seemed to be speaking silently.

Sorren shifted and a floorboard creaked, causing both teen's eyes to immediately fall on him. "Um… I'm feeling a little left out."

"Sorry, bunny. I didn't mean to do that. Anyway, let's get to work." Lyla moved towards the door.

"I'm not a bunny! Quit calling me that!" Sorren followed her.

"Why are you calling him bunny?" Laura asked as she followed. "And what are you guys doing?"

"Cleaning." Lyla answered as she picked up some of the cleaning supplies. "I told you about how he got absolutely covered in dust before the trip, right?"

"Oh." Laura said softly.

"Sorry. Let's clean up so it's at least safe for us to sleep here tonight."

"We?" Sorren asked as he began to gather cleaning stuff.

"Me and Laura. She wouldn't be here if she didn't need a place to stay and I'm not going to kick her out."

"You mean I can stay here?"

"If you clean. Sorren's just helping out because he's an awesome friend. He actually helped me find and buy this place."

"Isn't that sweet." Laura took a broom and walked to a part of the room to sweep, "Just make sure there aren't any kids running around too soon."

Lyla growled while Sorren blushed.

"Why is she your friend…" Sorren murmured.

"Bitch, he's like a brother to me!"

Laura flipped her off. Lyla took the broomstick and swung it like a sword. Laura blocked with her broom. They began sword fighting to the death, kicking up dust and giving Sorren a bad coughing fit. He didn't know how the girls could keep up when they were coughing almost as much as him. Well, Laura was. Lyla was using her mask to her advantage.

"Okay, how about we stop filling each other's lunges with dust and actually start cleaning?" He suggested, lowering their brooms down, "I'd prefer not to become another dust bunny."

Lyla giggled as Laura scoffed and went back to sweeping. After some cheek poking, Lyla started sweeping as well. Sorren opened all the windows so some fresh air could flow in.

"By the way, you can borrow a mask if you'd like, Laura," Lyla offered quietly, almost meekly.

A beat of silence before the older teen replied, "No. I'm good."

A tense quiet settled over the three of them as they cleaned several rooms before the moon started to rise. Sorren stopped so he could leave.

"Good night, Sorren." Lyla told her friend as she continued to clean. "Stay safe."

"I will. Night." He called back before leaving.

"So… where do you want to sleep?" The smaller teen turned to Laura.

"I already cleaned the room I slept in. I think I'll just turn in for the night." Laura stretched and put away her cleaning stuff.

"All right." The young woman pulled her mask down. "I'll be around." She began to walk away. Spending time with Laura was bringing some unpleasant memories to the surface. More of those were coming back anyways.

"By any chance, would you happen to be the 'kid that looks like bad news' the townspeople were talking about?" Laura called after her friend's retreating back.

Lyla smiled at the description. "Yeah. I'm the trouble-looking kid. They think I'm really sweet." She turned to look at her old friend with a sad smile. "It's probably because Sorren dragged me all over to show me things. It was fun, but..." She shrugged. "I'll never see things the same way as others." Growing up the way she had had ruined a lot of things for her.

"Yeah. I can understand that to a degree." Laura shrugged back. "We'll have to tell each other what really happened all these years sometime."

A grimace flashed on her face before the teen smothered it. "Not tonight. Unpleasant memories aren't something I want to talk about." The girl sighed and her shoulders drooped. "I just hope whatever happened to you gave you more happiness."

"The Magic Council wasn't so nice to you then?" That wasn't quite accurate.

"Just know that I'm sorry." The smaller teen began to walk away again. "Go ahead and get cleaned up. I'll be around here." Some fresh air would be good for her. Plus, she wouldn't sleep for a while, especially with someone else in the house.

The girl walked out the front door and began to pace around her property in a circle that widened with every loop. Eventually, she stopped at the edge of the property and used her magic to easily gain access to the small balcony attached to the attic. This was her quiet spot.

"I think I'll make this my room." She murmured, peering into the dark attic. It needed a lot of work, but it would be perfect for her when it was done.


	19. Chapter 19

After a long night of restlessness for Lyla, she got up early. There wasn't any food in her house and barely any furniture, so she had to get to the bakery quickly for a doughnut before she went to the guild.

"Good morning." She greeted Laura when she came down.

"Morning." The older teen yawned. "What are you up so early for?"

"Breakfast. I drop by a bakery on my way to the guild. I was just waiting on you." The young woman was fully dressed with a leather satchel and didn't look at all like she had barely slept. Her friend was still wearing her sleep clothes. A baggy t-shirt and some loose cloth pants. Her face was neutral, so that was a good sign.

"Why the fuck do you have metal on your gloves?" Laura was staring at the black gloves Lyla wore.

"It packs a punch. Double use, a weapon I can subtly conceal and covers my hands." She clanked the metal together nervously.

"I suppose that would be helpful. But you pack a punch without the metal."

That comment earned her an eyeroll. "It's more the weapon part that I like. Go get dressed. I want to get to the guild before the queens of hissy fits get there."

"Queens of hissy fits?"

"Natsu and Gray." She explained simply. "I'll introduce you later if you go get dressed."

"All right." She walked away.

"Damn," Lyla muttered. She hadn't meant to grab these gloves. She hadn't grabbed them in a while. Her boots were the metal ones as well, but she regularly wore those for jobs.

Laura came back downstairs to see her brunette friend glaring at her gloves. "Are you ok?" she called.

"Fine. Just thinking. Let's just go." The shadow user whirled around and walked out the door silently.

"You've gotten so much quieter." Laura complimented when she caught up to the fast teen.

"And you have too." She led her friend quickly along the streets. People were starting to slowly fill the streets and begin work. "Busier than usual. We left too late." Lyla muttered to herself.

"What do you mean?" Laura asked.

The young wizard glanced over her shoulder. "I like being out when it's empty. I'm at the guild pretty early normally. And with the Fantasia Parade coming up next month, it's getting busier."

"Fantasia?"

"A thing our guild does. It's 'mandatory'." The anxious teen fidgeted her hair over her face. "I'm not doing it either way. It's a bad idea. You'll probably be given a last minute place when they finally finish with some things." Her hands slipped into her pockets. "Oh!" The young woman dashed towards a stall.

"Lyla!" Laura called, exasperated. She followed more slowly.

"How much did you just say that was?" The teen asked incredulously.

"I said it's fifty thousand jewel. It's standard for one that size." The shopkeep scowled. "You got a problem."

"You are a rip off and a hack." She held up the palm-sized lacrima. "It's not even worth a thousand jewel. It's a one use lacrima that will shatter immediately after the first use."

"L-liar!" He stuttered in shock and looked aghast.

"Please. This one," she set down the small one she held and picked up one the size of her head, "is worth fifty thousand." She set it back down and picked up another palm-sized one. "This one is worth five thousand. I'll take it if you give me two of these for the price of one. I won't tell the magistrate if you adjust your prices fairly. And if you don't the Magic Council will hear about this." Her voice was dead serious. "Ripping off people with magical devices is their jurisdiction."

"Of course, ma'am." He was stiff with fear. No one wanted to deal with the Magic Council like that.

"Good. I'll be back here in two hours. It had better be fixed." She paid and began to stalk away. The two lacrima were stowed in her leather satchel.

"Impressive." Laura commented as she followed. "I didn't realize you were on good terms with the council."

"I'm not, except Yajima. I have to have this so that I can call them with a report. I also need to scream at them for firing etherion at the tower." She walked towards a small, out of the way bakery and stepped inside. "By the way, this place is the best." She held the door open.

The other wizard breathed deeply. "It smells good."

"Lyla! What are you doing here so late?" Sorren called from a table in the corner. "I already ordered your… donut."

"I was waiting on her." The young woman walked over and plopped down. "Thank you." She looked at Laura. "Just order something. I'll cover it for today." She handed her friend some money. "Keep whatever is left. You'll need it more than me right now."

"Thanks." She went to the counter to order.

"When the baker said you hadn't been in yet, I was worried for a minute. Then I remembered Laura. I got your normal." Sorren gestured to the donuts on the table. "I already ate mine."

"I appreciate it. I waited for Laura so that I could introduce her to this place. And," she pulled a lacrima out of her bag, "I replaced my communication lacrima finally!"

"That's good." He smiled at her as she put the device away and began to devour her two doughnuts. "I see you're hungry."

"Yeah." She muttered between bites as Laura sat. Her friend ate silently beside her. When she finished, she pulled out some money and shoved it at Sorren. "Here. For the doughnuts."

He glared at her for a second before accepting the money. There was an ongoing fight between them. He would buy her something and she'd pay him back, but refused payment whenever she bought something for him. Normally, when they fought, it ended painfully for him.

After a couple of minutes, the three of them walked out together.

"You two go on ahead. I have something really important to do. I'll catch up in a minute." Lyla told them and walked down an alley. "It's private."

"Finally calling the Council?" Sorren asked. He knew she had to contact them, but nothing else.

"Yup." She muttered an insult under her breath. "Go on ahead." The other two began to walk.

Lyla walked further into the alley and into the dark. She stopped when she was certain most people wouldn't hear.

"Yoru." The man who picked up answered.

"Chairman." She snapped back. "That's not what I'm called now. I'm not on a goddamn mission for you." She began to rant at the old man. She voiced an ear splitting scream of rage when she finished.

"Yoru, I know what has happened and the Fiore council is disbanded until further notice. You still have your duty to fulfil should we need it." He told her seriously before smiling. "And you did well. You even managed to contact me again."

"Your fucking filthy magical signature is easy enough to trace. Besides, I just fucking merged my old one with a new one and tweaked it. Now screw you. I have to go." The teen huffed but didn't hang up.

"Be careful, child. You are in a dangerous guild."

"And I haven't caused any problems. I've fixed them."

"If you are going to be petty, go. I expect you to report back next week. The future I was told recently was quite disturbing." The old man sighed.

Lyla's shoulders drooped. "Is there?"

"No. Your pay will be there soon though. Keep up the good work." The connection cut off and left the crystal blank.

"Of fucking course." She put the crystal away and ran across the roofs of building to catch up with her friends.

"Hi Jane." Lyla greeted. Lyla, Laura, and Sorren had all arrived to the guild together.

"I still don't understand why you won't call me Mira." The woman teased. "And you're unusually late."

"I'm different, that's why. And I met Laura! She's that childhood friend I told you about." Lyla hugged her friend proudly. "It's awesome. Though, you already know her."

"I've met her."

"I'm going to introduce her to others." Lyla began dragging Laura away.

"I haven't seen her quite so excited since she climbed into the rafters." Mira commented to Sorren. "Lyla is definitely a strange one. Even for this guild."

"I know." Sorren grumbled and ordered a drink.

"Sorry. Lyla told me no drinks for you until later." Mira apologized again.

"Lyla!" He roared angrily.

Said teenager laughed as she dragged Laura to meet Natsu. There was a fight near the pool and the yells about strawberry cake told her where her friends were.

"Stay here." Lyla told her friend before wading into the brawl. It quickly broke apart, away from her. Her hits were generally very effective.

"Agh! Lyla! You're going to choke me!" A very high pitched man's voice squealed as the young woman dragged Natsu by his scarf.

"Meet the barbeque. His name is Natsu." Lyla dropped the man at her friend's feet. "I'll introduce you to Erza when she's gotten cake and Gray when he puts on some fucking clothes!" She yelled the part about Gray.

"All right."

"Barbeque, this is my friend, Laura." She introduced.

"Fight me." The pinkette demanded. Lyla's fist met his face and he tumbled away.

"You're going to go be a damn nice salamander and get some cake for Erza. Fuck off." The shadow wizard began dragging Laura way again. "This is Lucy." The blonde was sitting in the sun by the pool.

"Hi, I'm Lucy. You are?" The Celestial wizard offered a hand.

"Laura." The sound wizard was scowling as she shook hands.

"Let's go see Levy." Lyla began dragging her friend away again.

"Bye Laura! Sorry." Lucy called after them.

Lyla dodged around some flying stuff and stopped. "Gajeel." She hissed and stepped in front of the cowering blunette. He was trying to talk to the petite girl. "Is he bothering you?"

"No. Really, I'm fine." Levy squeaked behind her.

"Bullshit." Lyla snapped and glared at the man. His iron piercing and black clothes were the same as before. "Laura, meet Levy. Levy meet Laura. Why don't you two go talk about books. I wanna talk to Gajeel."

They walked off when Lyla moved towards Gajeel. The teen kept her voice low as she hissed, "Don't hurt her or else I'll make you regret it. I don't give a fuck if you're in the guild, but you hurt them, I have ways to make you regret everything you've ever done."

"Good talk, Lyla. I'll keep that in mind." He replied evenly. "But you couldn't beat me at all."

"If that's what you think, keep going. Just fucking keep on the right path. Regrets are hard to get rid off." Lyla whispered before she moved back to her friends.

Her eyes met another pain in the ass. He gestured for her to come over to him.

"Go on a job. There are new ones." Lyla told Laura. "I've got shit to do."

"'Kay." Laura headed for the bar.

"If he ever bothers you, I'll take care of him. It's not hard to do." She hugged Levy lightly. "Be careful." Lyla walked away quickly. Being all mushy was not her strong suit. Hugs didn't generally happen either.

"Wow, pipsqueak. You've got guts. But you're still weak." Laxus, the biggest asshole in the guild laughed.

"The only reason I haven't done what I wanted to was because you're the master's grandson," she snarled. "Now what do you want, Sparky?"

"Oh, I just wanted to compliment you on passing out for three days after beating a weak enemy." He clapped sarcastically.

"No, you wanted to see if I'd join your merry little band. You like my power. And you know, I really do fit the criteria for it. I have a secondary magic in my eye." Lyla's voice sounded strange as a chill filled the air.

"I was right as always." He said egotistically.

The teen swept her hair out of her face, revealing the top part of her scar. "Want to see it?" The ill feeling in the air intensified as he eye twitched. "Because you will regret this path soon." A sliver of red peered at him from under her lashes. "Those shadows catch up quickly."

"I have no idea what you mean." The arrogant sneer on his face was gone and his words sounded far less confident. No one seemed to see what was happening in the darkened bubble.

"Of course you do." Her hair dropped back into place and the ill feeling faded. "Just watch out. Things rarely go the way you want when it happens this way." She stalked off. "And it won't disappear later on, either."

The big blonde stared at the strange teenager until she disappeared from sight.

Growling, Lyla walked to the job board to see if Laura was still there. Instead, Erza and Gray walked up to her.

"We met your friend. She seems quite reserved." Erza said.

"She's like that. Laura has some trust issues." Lyla looked at Gray. "I see you finally put on some clothes. Well, pants at least."

"Came in to get a drink. Erza reminded me."

"I see. Do you guys know where Laura went?"

"She left on a job. I'm surprised she knows how to talk." Gray answered, "She acted weird."

"Really? She seemed fine when talking to me." Erza stated.

"I'll talk to her when she gets back. In the meantime-" Lyla walked off to the bar, "Sorren! What'd I say about drinking too much?!" She stomped off to snatch the large sized cup from the man, who was barely sober enough to stay awake.

"Just how many barrels do you drink?!"

Sorren pointed at four emptied barrels of booze. Cana had five emptied and was scarfing down the last drops of the sixth.

"Dammit... Another drinking contest…" Lyla sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.


	20. Chapter 20

Lyla relaxed against a wooden beam, high above the drinking wizards. Sorren had ended up starting a guildwide drinking contest. Whoever won would get drinks for the rest of the year and the losers would pay for them by turns. It had started out small -just Cana, Sorren, and Natsu. Then Gray joined. Then, quickly, almost everybody started competing. The prizes were changed and it was out of control. At least Mirajane was down there, facilitating the mess. Levy and Lucy had left a while ago to hang out and talk books. Laura was on a job. The only person that seemed to be thinking the same thing as her was the supposedly strongest mage in the guild: Laxus Dreyar. He was sitting on the second floor and laughing to himself at the stupidity of their guildmates. Occasionally, he'd glance up in her general direction and shudder.

Sure, it was a little creepy to sit and stare at him -with both eyes- from the darkness, but it was too interesting trying to figure him out. Her right eye was the reason for his jumpiness.

The next couple of hours, Lyla divided her attention between Laxus and Sorren. Her curiosity was going to be the death of her someday. Sorren was showing no signs of slowing down and she was getting tired of the noise. At least on the second floor it would be quieter. Laxus was still there -likely since his little group was drinking and he secretly cared what happened to them. While it was fun to taunt him, she wanted to avoid him right now. Of course, her head was starting to hurt from the noise of the past several hours.

Sighing, she began to move across the wooden beams gracefully. It wasn't hard to move over to the dark corner and drop down silently. Eventually Sorren would pass out and she'd collect him.

Just as she'd curled into a ball in the peaceful corner, someone walked over. The teen didn't open her eyes and asked, "What do you want, Sparky?"

"You to stop being a creepy little fucker. Staring at people is weird." Laxus' distinct voice snapped.

Opening her normal eye, she peered up at him. "I'm tired. If you want me to quit being creepy, go back in time and fix the shit that went wrong." Weeks of not sleeping well was starting to get to her. Her magic being wonky from the tower and having someone else with a lot of dangerous skills sleep in the same space as her were not giving her rest.

"Well quit staring at me."

She stared at him and said, "If you don't like being stared at, you shouldn't be such a powerful mage. You've-" she yawned loudly. "You've been recognized by the council as a powerful wizard in your own damn right. Now shut up and leave me alone, bolt boy."

The man was silent for a moment before saying, "You don't know anything about me." He began to walk away.

"I know I struck a nerve and all," she said loud enough for him to hear, "but you're a piece of shit with that attitude."

He stopped, turned around, and glared. If looks could kill, the teenager would have been very dead from the venom in his gaze. "If I'm so powerful, then why do you keep acting so high and mighty when you're a weakling?"

"Because," her eye slid half shut and she flipped him off. "It's fun. And you never know. I might be more powerful than you think. Showing off isn't everything and having a ton of power can suck. You should know." She closed her eyes and sighed. "Now please leave me alone."

"Tch." He scoffed and walked away. Definitely one of the strangest encounters between them so far.

Lyla sighed. Maybe her magic was affecting the people around her more than she thought. Even though she trusted Laura, it was hard for her to let go of some things. It made getting sleep harder and controlling her magic got harder and harder with the less sleep she got.

"I should go on a job." She muttered out loud. Lately, she'd been living off of the money from the council while using her income from jobs to fix the house up. The house had improved a lot. It was nearly finished thanks to the help of Natsu, Gray, Lucy, Erza, Levy, Sorren, Laura, and the Strauss siblings. Mirajane and Elfman had come over to help one day. Elfman spouted some nonsense about it being Manly to help and then getting to work.

The teenager opened her eyes when she realized someone else had come upstairs. Laura stood at the top of the steps, scanning the dark spots. Her eyes swept over Lyla and continued to search.

Before the older wizard could leave after she finished looking, Lyla sat up. "I'm over here." she said softly, knowing Laura would hear.

The sound mage whirled around to look at Lyla. "I thought you weren't up here. How on earth did I miss you?" She asked as she walked over.

"I was resting. Don't worry about the rest of that." The young woman joked.

"Ugh, stop that." Laura groaned and sat at a table. Lyla stood and sat down across from her friend.

"What brought you to find me? I would have thought you'd go straight home after seeing the mess downstairs."

"I just wanted to see if I could find you."

"You failed at that." The shadow mage smirked. "I'm a little bit stealthy." She picked at the edge of her mask. "How are you holding up?" Laura hated crowds.

"I'm fine." A lazy quiet fell between them.

Lyla broke it with a tired chuckle. "Well, you should probably go home and sleep. I'll head back after I deposit a drunk Dust Bunny at his house."

"All right." Laura stood. "I'll see you tomorrow. That idiot is still going strong."

"Of course he is. He drinks almost as much as Cana does." Lyla rolled her eyes. "Good night." A small smile worked its way onto her face.

"Yeah, whatever," Laura smiled back softly before jumping over the rail. In the weeks since they had reunited, they had gotten a lot closer. Although not as close as when they were children.

It was nearly three in the morning when the drinking contest finished. No one won anything except a hangover and Master Makarov was footing the bill for all the drinks since no one had won.

"Come on, you shithead." Lyla grumbled as she picked up Sorren and slung him over her shoulder. He was too drunk to even attempt to walk and barely conscious on top of that.

"NoooOOOooo! I haven't won yet!" He slurred and wiggled a little. If that was his try at escaping he was almost passed out.

"You're heavy." She grunted and began to walk. Most of the other people were passed out and not moving. The only two moving were Laxus and Lyla.

Lyla paused in the shadows and watched Laxus pick up Bickslow and Freed. The two were completely knocked out as their team leader tossed them over his shoulder. The big blonde glanced around before walking away. He had a paper in his hand. Seemed like he was going on a job.

"Don't want a cookie!" Sorren exclaimed loudly. Laxus, about to leave, looked over and his eyes met hers. A strange emotion flashed through his eyes before he hurried out the door.

"You idiotic bunny." Lyla hissed. Her cheeks were red. It was embarrassing to be seen when she was trying to hide. That was why she was suddenly flustered, right?

"I'm not a bunny," he slurred.

"Ugh." Lyla groaned and rolled her eyes. It was time to get him home.

"Hi. Is this the Colander residence?" Lyla asked politely. A teenager that appeared to be around her age had opened the door. His messy red hair and bright gold eyes were eye catching at this hour.

"Depends. Is that Sorren?" The teen asked. The shadow mage nodded. "Follow me." He walked inside. The young woman stepped into the dark house and shut the door behind herself.

"Are you… Uragi?" Lyla asked.

"Yeah. Drop him on the couch." He instructed before yelling, "Mom! Sorren's home!"

She did as he said and literally dropped Sorren onto the couch carelessly. He was completely passed out. "This idiot has talked about you a lot. I'm Lyla."

An older woman with red hair and gold eyes came down the stairs. She began to ask, "Did he walk- oh!"

"She brought him home. He's totally passed out." Uragi said simply. "She said her name is Lyla."

"Hi." The teen greeted simply. "I'm Sorren's friend."

"Uragi, dear. Go make some tea for our guest. Make a cup for your brother." His mom instructed.

The teen quickly obeyed and answered her respectfully.

"I take it you brought him home. I'm Miriam Colander. You must be Lyla. Sorren's talked about you a lot." Her voice was sweet as she began to tend to her son. "Thank you for bringing him home."

"You're welcome. He only drank too much, so he'll be fine tomorrow." Lyla shifted awkwardly. The warm home made it seem like she didn't belong. "I'll just go now. No need to make me anything."

"Nonsense! You should stay for tea. I know you take care of my boy a lot, despite him being older." The woman insisted. "Why don't you go talk to Uragi for a while so i can take care of Sorren?"

"It's almost four in the morning. I don't want to be a nuisance."

"That doesn't matter. I would love to talk to you for a bit."

"I guess." Lyla sighed. She was too tired to fight against the strong willed woman. She followed her friend's mother's directions to their dining room.

After a couple of minutes, Uragi came in with a cup of tea. He sat across from her and asked, "What's your relationship with my brother?" He tried to seem threatening, but utterly failed.

"You're adorable, trying to protect him. Don't worry, he's like a pet brother to me." Lyla smiled and sipped her tea.

A look of shock from Uragi made her laugh.

"He's like a brother to me. And I take care of him like he's a pet. You know, make him eat, drink water, stop him from drinking alcohol, make sure he sleeps. You really don't have to worry about me." Lyla assured the teen.

"You're weird. Just like he said." The young man replied simply.

"True, but so are you." She retorted. After that, he became much more reserved. She spent the rest of the night chatting with Uragi and Miriam. When morning came, Sorren stumbled into the dining room asking for his hangover cure.

When he saw Lyla, he stopped cold and said, "I'm going to die." In front of her was the baby pictures of him. She had heard hundreds of stories from his mother. She had plenty of dirt on Uragi as well.

"Idiot." The young woman laughed.


	21. Chapter 21

"I'm not doing it, Sorren." Lyla flicked his forehead. Since she had ended up meeting his family, she had regularly hung out there. Uragi had deemed her a friend, and Sorren had grown much closer to Lyla.

"Why won't you? You really should join the Miss Fairy Tail contest. There's a 500,000 jewel reward to the winner!"

She glared at him. "You know how I am about that shit. I wasn't here when Jason was, was I?" Jason is a reporter in Sorcerer Magazine. Lyla's read many articles about Fairy Tail that were written by him.

"Fine. I'll leave you alone." He pouted. "But the Magnolia Harvest festival isn't fun when you don't participate."

The teen rolled her eyes and pushed his shoulder. "You are just being whiny. I don't do public shit, but what have we been doing all morning? Shopping?"

The two of them were actually enjoying the harvest festival by going through all the stalls. This had been building up quickly in preparation for today. Now it was in full swing and busy as hell.

"You're definitely pretty enough to win." Sorren commented.

The teenagers cheeks turned pink. "Shut up."

"You're blushing!" The man gasped. "I didn't think it was possible to fluster you!"

The pink went from an adorable blush to a flush of anger. "I'm not a damn robot you piece of shit!" she snapped and smacked his head.

"I'm sorry!!!" He cried out and began running away. The townspeople, completely used to the oddness, just stepped out of the way whenever the two wizards neared them. There were others from out of town who were frightened and confused.

It wasn't long until Sorren gave up. Lyla was extremely fast. Being smaller and her magic gave her the advantage.

"Remind me why I did that?" Sorren asked, panting. He was laying on the ground and dripping sweat.

Lyla was sitting beside him and perfectly fine despite her heavier clothing. "Because you are an absolute idiot."

"And how are you perfectly fine?" He yelled and gestured uselessly.

She pretended to think, "Hmm, I don't really drink. I try to sleep regularly and sleep well. I work out properly. I maintain a good diet. I think it might be because I just fucking work for it. Or also, being faster and far more nimble than you helps."

"Screw you!" He yelled again.

"Quit yelling." The young woman kicked his shoulder gently.

"Ow!" The metal on her boots made it hurt more than it should have.

"Quit being whiny. And get up. Lucy wanted to talk to me before the contest started and you're coming with me."

"Eh?"

"Please help me win!" Lucy begged again. When they got here, Sorren had been shooed away and Lucy dragged Lyla backstage into a dressing room. Why they had them was a mystery.

"You want me to cheat and help you win?" The shadow mage asked flatly. Her mask was covering her mouth, an obvious sign of discomfort.

"No! I just want you make it so that I'll win. No cheating." Lucy tried to make it sound good, but it just sounded confusing.

Lyla clanked the metal on her gloves. "No. I don't have a good feeling about this. Besides, you're pretty enough to win. Just be super cute. And use Virgo. She'll help you." Something about today didn't feel right.

Later, when everyone was gathered in the guild hall for the start of the contest, the announcer said into his microphone, "Everyone, I'm so glad you could make it! The battle of beauty between our female Fairies. Let's start the Miss Fairy Tail Contest!"

Lyla was watching things from the ceiling. She was getting a horrible feeling about today.

"I am Max, the sand wizard, and I will be your host!" Max introduced himself. The crowd cheered.

Lyla had seen the weirdo with his strange bowlcut around the guild a lot. He was often behind the gift shop counter. Today, he was wearing a purple suit with a giant red bow tie for some reason.

"Entry number one: The exotic beauty with a bottomless pit for a stomach!" he began to introduce. Lyla giggled at his wording. "Cana Alberona!"

Cana stepped out behind him and posed, showing off her body. The crowd cheered loudly.

"Now, it's time to appeal to the crowd with your magic!" Max continued enthusiastically. He was practically falling backwards from his weird posing.

Cana smirked at the crowd and held up a hand of cards. The began to swirl around her and glow.

"She's going to be wearing a bikini." Lyla muttered to herself. It was supposed to be an appealing thing, and what appealed to men more than showing off flawless skin? The young woman rubbed her arm anxiously. She couldn't do that anyway. Too much publicity.

"The cards are hiding Cana's body…" Max commented. When the cards disappeared, they revealed Cana in a green and orange striped bikini and high heels. "She changed into a swimsuit!"

Cana was standing in a sexy pose before a smirk covered her face. "I'll take the beer-money, thanks." The crowd cheered loudly for the gorgeous woman. Lyla shifted uncomfortably. Even if there wasn't as much publicity, she couldn't do that. Her magic wasn't something she liked to show off and her skin was very scarred.

Cana strutted off stage as Max yelled, "Entry number two: She might be a newcomer, but her abilities are S-class! Rain or shine, this woman will steal your heart! Juvia Lockser!"

Juvia stepped on stage, smiling sweetly. Her blue and white dress and cap combo made her seem very conservative. When her body changed to water and then revealed a blue polkadot biking, the crowd went wild once again.

They were really enjoying the swimwear.

"Gray-sama! Did you see?" Juvia yelled. She really did love him. She walked off stage before Max began the next intro.

"Entry number three: Everyone's favorite poster girl of the guild. Her beauty is known throughout the land! Mirajane!" Max yelled and jumped out of the way. Mira walked to the front of the stage.

The crowd became even louder, yelling for her. Mira waved and smiled sweetly.

"Now! Appeal to the audience!" Max yelled and posed weirdly again.

"My specialty is transformation magic, so I'll transform!" The crowd got even more excited as Mira covered her face. "Head-only Happy! Aye!" She yelled as her head transformed into Happy's. The crowd's disappointment was palpable as they immediately fell silent. Even Max was shocked.

Lyla began to laugh wildly. This was hilarious.

Mirajane moved her hands over her face quickly and yelled, "Head-only Gajeel-kun!" Her head changed to Gajeel's.

Gajeel spat out whatever he was drinking and fell to the floor. Happy joined Lyla's laughter as the crowd sounded even more disappointed.

Mirajane left the stage still smiling.

Max cleared his throat. "Entry number four: She needs no explanation… Titania!" Erza jumped onto the stage, flipping through the air, and landing perfectly. "Erza Scarlet!"

The crowd cheered up and yelled for her.

Erza laughed to herself and said, "I will show you all a very special requip." She yelled in concentration and began to change. The red light covered her before revealing her in a gothic loli maid outfit.

"That decided it." Erza chuckled and smiled at the crowd sweetly.

"Entry number five: The little fairy with cutes and intelligence, Levy McGarden!" Max introduced the next contestant. Lyla cheered for her friend. Her teammates also cheered overly loudly.

"Solid Script!" Levy yelled and cast her spell. Snow, metal, butterfly, and flowers all appeared behind her. The crowd cheered loudly for her.

"Entry number six: the sexy sniper Bisca Moulin!" Bisca stepped on stage in a wine red bikini, her green hair free from her cowboy hat.

The woman threw four coins into the air, requipped a gun and shot through them all with one shot. "The gunner!" She yelled as she shot and then caught them between her fingers. "Yeehaw."

"Entry number seven: Our guild's super rookie! This upcoming star will sparkle with the guidance of Celestial spirits! Lucy Heart-" Max introduced. Lucy jumped out and interrupted him before he could finish her last name.

"Don't say my last name!" Lucy cried as she ran onto the stage. The crowd's reaction was much more subdued, but just as perverted.

"Now, appeal to the audience!" Max yelled as he stuck yet another pose. How many of those did he have to do?!

"Um, I'm going to do a cheer routine with my Spirits." Lucy said shyly. The crowd cheered.

"Entry number eight," a woman began.

"Hey! I'm not done appealing yet!" Lucy insisted and danced around a little.

Evergreen stepped up behind Lucy and said, "If you want a Fairy, then you want me." She began to walk forward. "If you want beauty, you want me." Her green fairy-like dress swayed with each step as she sauntered forwards confidently.

"Conceited brat." Lyla muttered. The only female member of the Laxus' little troop was being too cocky.

"Yes, I am all you want." Her red fan fluttered gently in front of her face.

"Not a great personality." Lyla yelled. The woman ignored her.

"The winner is obviously me, Evergreen!" She declared. "Okay. The idiotic contest is now over!" Lucy yelled in shock as the crowd murmured in confusion.

"What the fuck is going on?" Lyla muttered. That bad feeling was getting even worse and it worried her.

"The winner is obviously me, Evergreen!" She declared. "Okay. The idiotic contest is now over!"

Lucy yelled in shock as the crowd murmured in confusion.

"What the fuck is going on?" Lyla muttered. That bad feeling was getting even worse and it worried her.

"Hey! Don't get in my way!" Lucy snapped at the newcomer. "My rent is counting on this, you know!"

"Lucy! Don't look into her eyes!" Gray yelled from the crowd.

"Huh?" Lucy stepped back in confusion.

"What's this kid?" Evergreen asked and lifted her glasses. She looked Lucy dead in the eye and the young woman immediately turned into a stone statue. Confusion rippled through the crowd.

"This is bad. Everyone, quickly escape!" Max ordered. An immediate panic and rush ensued as most of the audience ran for the exit.

"What are you doing, Evergreen?" Master Makarov stepped towards the stage. "Do you plan on ruining the festival?" He demanded.

The woman laughed and asked, "You need some entertainment for a festival, yes?" The curtain rose to reveal all the other petrified contestants, frozen to stone.

"Neechan!" Elfman yelled.

"Even Erza?!" Happy added.

Master Makarov yelled angrily, "You fool! Return them to normal at once!"

Lightning struck the stage and revealed Laxus. Lyla's grip on the beam she sat on tightened. "Hey, you Fairy Fails." The cocky bastard greeted casually. "This festival is just getting started!" He had an insane look in his eyes. Something that Lyla knew the look of all too well.

"Laxus?" Master Makarov asked in shock.

Gray noticed the other two. "Freed? Bickslow?" These guys really did suck at seeing people sneaking around. Lyla had known that the Raijin Tribe had been lurking the whole time. It was too bad she hadn't known that they were the ones giving her the bad feeling. She had honestly hoped nothing would come of Laxus' idiocy, but here comes the peak.

"The Raijin Tribe…" Macao began.

"Laxus' personal guard!" Wakaba finished.

Laxus deranged smirk grew. "Let's play, old man."

"Enough of this foolishness!" Makarov snapped. "Return them to normal at once!"

Laxus looked down at him condescendingly. "I wonder how many will be left in the Fantasia?" Lightning appeared above the statue of Lucy near him.

"Don't!" Makarov cried out desperately. The lightning hit the stage right next to the young woman.

Lyla breathed deeply, one hand holding a knife. She had instinctively pulled it out of her boot when she saw the threat to her friend. If Laxus tried something like that one more time, she may end up using it on him. At least it wasn't one of the blades poisoned by her magic.

"These women are my hostages." Laxus declared and casually draped an arm over Lucy's shoulders. "If you break the rules, I'll shatter them one by one. I told you, remember? This is entertainment!"

"This isn't funny, Laxus!" Makarov growled.

"I'm being serious."

Freed jumped onto the stage and said, "Let's just see who is the strongest in Fairy Tail."

Bickslow joined them as well and said, "Time for fun!"

"Fun, fun!" The five dolls floating behind him echoed.

"The rules are simple." Laxus stated. "The last one standing is the winner!"

"Because you're a simpleton." Lyla growled under her breath. Her grip on the beam had splintered the wood as she tried to keep herself in check. Master Makarov wouldn't like it if she accidentally killed his grandson.

"Battle of Fairy Tail!"

"I like it! Simple!" Natsu yelled as he punched a table. "I'm getting fired up!"

"I like that eager spirit of yours." Laxus complimented.

"Natsu!" Makarov called scoldingly.

"It's a festival, Gramps." Natsu smirked. Of course he'd think this was enticing. "Let's do this."

Warren Rocko, the telepathic wizard who had arrived earlier today, called after Natsu, who was walking towards Laxus, "Don't you remember when you got beat by Laxus before?"

"I was just a kid!" He waved off. Lyla dropped to the floor in front of him and punched him.

"You're still a kid." She hissed. "Now is not the time to challenge him. Not unless you want our friends to get hurt! They are right there." Her voice was harsh.

"Whatever! They're strong enough!" he tried to push past her. A fist met his face and he dropped like a stone.

"Natsu!" Happy cried worriedly.

Laxus began to laugh. "How smart of you, weakling. I see you at least have some brains in that tiny head of yours." Lyla ignored him and glared down at Natsu.

"If you want these girls returned to normal, you must defeat us!" Evergreen declared behind the shadow wizard.

"There are four of us and around a hundred of you, right?" Bickslow asked. None of them even cared about the goings on of the guild.

"One hundred on four!" His dolls repeated.

"You have three hours. After that, I'm afraid that they'll turn to dust." Evergreen continued.

"The field of battle is the entirety of Magnolia." Laxus finished. "When you find us, the battle begins."

"Laxus…" Makarov growled. "Stop this foolishness!" He began to grow as he yelled in anger.

"Now, now! I said to cool down!" Laxus retorted calmly. He knew Makarov couldn't attack him while he was surrounded by the statues. "It's entertainment for the festival, see? Let's have fun!" He laughed and disappeared in a flash of light along with his lackeys. "Battle of Fairy Tail, begin!"

Lyla didn't bother listening to her guildmates talking. She dashed towards the exit. Nobody was allowed to get away with threatening her friends and family.

When she tried to step outside, she was stopped by a rune barrier while the rest of the guild stampeded through.

She looked up and read, "Those older than eighty or stone statues may not pass." There was a smaller passage detailing why she wasn't allowed through.

"Lyla? I didn't know you were over eighty." Happy commented.

"It's not that." She dodged the flood of wizards running to do battle. "I'm a powerful shadow mage. There is a small, hidden part of the runes. It says that 'those who lurk in the shadows may not pass, in order to preserve life and safety.'"

"Guess this Raijin Tribe knows what you're capable of." Laura smirked, walking up to them. She placed her hand on the invisible barrier. "I guess that applies to me, too."

"What does that mean?" He asked, a little nervous. He was probably waiting for Natsu.

"It means Freed is too smart, but I'm smarter than him." She reached out and touched the barrier before rearranging a few characters. "I can make it so that I can get out." Her hand slipped through. "Bye."

The passage now said that 'those who lurk in the shadows may pass, in order to preserve life and safety.'

"Intent is all it was in this case. I'll end this quick." She waved.

"Lyla!" Master Makarov called, pressed against the barrier. "Don't you dare kill my grandson! He may be an idiot, but he's still family."

The young woman sighed. She had forgotten that he knew what she was and why she wasn't in the parade. The Magic Council had told him on her, so she had no choice in the matter. Master Makarov had every reason to be suspicious of her though.

"I won't. I'm trying to avoid that. I'll just get beaten up to knock some sense into his thick skull." She reassured him.

"Leave your knives here then." Laura demanded from the side. She stood right outside the barrier.

"Fine." The teen began to pull off her gloves and knives. She had more than one blade on her.

She had come fully prepared with her mask on. Not that it was going to help her right now. She tossed the stuff through the barrier, if she reentered the barrier, she wouldn't be able to get out since her temporary fix wouldn't work again. There were a couple of knives still on her, but most of them were in Makarov's hand.

Laura walked forwards, waiting for her friend.

"Laxus will be fine. I promise." Lyla told the master before she was gone, Laura following her.

They moved to the roof of a local building. Lyla crouched down and tried sensing Laxus' magic. She lowered her mask.

"It's too loud, I can't hear their voices or magic." Laura said, her eyes closed and crossing her arms.

"I'm having trouble pinpointing Laxus… There are too many wizards spread out across Magnolia."

"Jeez, you've fallen out of touch." Laura opened her eyes, snickering.

"Don't see you doing any better."

"I've never been under these conditions before."

"Me neither." Lyla smirked at her victory in this battle. Laura sighed, silence falling as they went back to searching.

"I can hear some wizards fighting each other. There's a type of enchantment magic around them." The older girl informed.

"I sense it. Freed must have set traps throughout the town."

"Keep quiet and I can listen for the traps."

Her friend knew her too well… Lyla would be too busy going after Laxus to sense any traps properly.

"Where are they?"

"Within a 200 yard radius, there's more west. They seem to be clustered."

Lyla scowled. "Guess we're heading that way. He wouldn't waste his time fighting us."

"More traps around his hiding spot means less likely of a chance for those caught in them to have the strength to continue."

Lyla grinned devilishly, "Quite a team we are, huh?"

"Too bad it took us this long to use our abilities properly."

"Hm… yeah. Which reminds me, why are you helping me fight Laxus? Out of everyone except the bastard himself, you'd care the least about something you aren't directly involved in."

"If anything, I'm bored."

Lyla somewhat expected that from her.

"Let's go, You worry about Laxus, I'll worry about the traps."

"Okay." Lyla was about to leap to the next roof.

"And Lyla…" The teen Laura talked to froze, waiting for her to finish. "Don't use your blades."

She leapt to the next roof, heading westward. Lyla smirked, then followed her. This bitch knows me damn too well!

...sh!


	22. Chapter 22

Laura and Lyla sprinted through the streets of Magnolia in search of Laxus. Defeat the boss and his minions won't know what to do without a leader.

"Move left." Laura ordered. Both wizards leapt over the lane of buildings and over onto another street. The avoided an enchantment trap Freed had placed. There were countless others to avoid. "There seems to be less this way."

"Then where are there more?" Lyla asked. They figured that they would find Laxus hiding in the center of the most traps.

"Further north."

With a nod, Lyla followed her directions. The sense of lightning magic grew stronger.

Lyla almost tackled whoever jumped on her. Laura got lucky. The woman lay over her, creating a crystal wall behind them where magic green bullets shot at them.

When the attack stopped, Laura jumped up to a defensive stance, Lyla doing the same as she put up her mask.

"Bickslow…" Lyla snarled.

"So that's this weirdo's name?"

Five wooden dolls floated around him.

"What a couple of cuties you are!" Bickslow grinned, sticking his tongue out as he spoke.

"Cuties! Cuties!" The dolls echoed.

"Great… It's a creep…" Laura sarcastically said through her teeth.

"Too bad you aren't wearing any sexy outfits like those Miss Fairy Tail girls." The man shrugged.

"Don't forget pervert." Lyla added towards Laura's comment.

"Babies, get 'em!" He commanded his dolls. They shot more bullets at them.

Lyla and Laura dodged and weaved.

"Laura! Traps!" The younger girl shouted.

"We're safe!" She shouted back. They regrouped and Lyla shot shadow lances at the dolls, destroying all five. "Stay in the area until we beat this guy."

"Oh, my babies… My babies…" Bickslow sobbed, mourning over the loss of his dolls. He crouched at the top of the flagpole on the roof of a toy store in front of them. They stood on the roof of a building in front of it.

Bickslow immediately stopped fake sobbing and stood up straight, sticking out his tongue as he laughed "Gotcha!"

Lyla didn't know much about his magic, so she was shocked as he explained himself.

"Beneath me is a hobby shop! A treasure trove of dolls! It makes no difference how many of my dolls you destroy; their souls are what I control!"

"Dammit…" Lyla snarled. Five toys flew from the shop, zipping around the girls. Laura punched a few, Lyla crumbled the others.

"I told you, it's no use! Your attacks won't affect souls! Get to it, new babies!"

Laura leapt to the roof and shot a blast of her sound magic, leaving Lyla to deal with the dolls.

"Hurry up and beat him!" She yelled at her older friend, stomping on a dolls closer to her feet. She saw a green glow towards the roof and yelled, "Laura! Close your eyes!" She spoke softer so only Laura could hear her, "All of the tribe have secondary magic in their eyes. Bickslow can turn you into one of his dolls if you look into his eyes."

More dolls flew around Lyla, hitting her. She kept her eyes closed and couldn't catch them fast enough.

"My Doll Possession and Figure Eyes are an unbeatable combination!" Bickslow laughed maniacally.

"Laura!"

"On it!" Lyla waited until her friend gave her the okay to open her eyes. The dolls stopped attacking and she saw a trail of broken roofs of buildings, stopping where Bickslow laid barely conscious. She jumped to the roof of the toy shop.

"Guess I went a little overboard." Laura stated.

"I wouldn't care if it wasn't for this." Lyla pointed to her ear. Laura placed her fingers on her own and discovered them to be bleeding.

"Well crap. I was on a good streak, too."

"Still haven't found anything on it?"

"Haven't found another Sound Wizard. Books aren't much help either."

Lyla stifled a laugh, making a funny face. "Looks like I'm finally catching up to you! Reading is no problem for me!"

Laura sighed, "Let's just go."

Giggling, Lyla followed Laura as she led them away from and enchantment traps Freed set up. Lyla had to find him, She had to find Laxus and knock some sense into him. She wouldn't have killed him even if Makarov hadn't commanded her not to, but it was tempting.

Lyla saw yellow orbs in the sky. She had never seen them in any Sorcerer Magazines, nor read about them in any spellbooks.

Both girls stopped. Laura didn't have to tell her. Anyone this close to the Kardia Cathedral would've heard a fight going down. Lyla sensed Lightning magic and someone else's.

Laura still had to warn her where traps were. She had tunnel vision set on beating the shit out of Laxus Dreyar.

When they arrived, Erza fought Laxus with her lightning empress armour. Lyla literally leapt into action, jumping off of Natsu's head as he stood up. An accident, but she just went with it.

Lyla swung her fist as she flew at Laxus. He dodged and she landed on the ground, spinning gracefully to face him.

"Erza! What are those orbs in the sky?" She shouted to the redhead. Laxus, for some reason, let her explain.

"Thunder Palace. In a few minutes, they'll electrocute the whole town. Laxus is using body link magic, so we risk our lives just destroying one."

Laxus laughed, "There isn't enough time even if you could destroy them!"

"Then destroy them all at once." Laura said, standing by the gaping whole where the front doors should be.

"And that's what I'll do." Erza ran outside, "Laura, come with me."

She looked back at Lyla, who nodded.

"Natsu beaten up, Erza gone; Looks like it's just you and me." Lyla turned her attention back to the lightning wizard.

"Can't say you'll still be here by the end of it, though."

Lyla scowled at the wizard, but he couldn't see it with her mask up.

Laxus looked at the timer freed created. "Tsk. Still a minute and thirty seconds until Thunder Palace activates?"

"That's plenty of time in order to beat you!" Lyla yelled furiously, punching Laxus with her shadow magic. He recoiled, a bruise on his forehead.

Damn it, I wasn't watching my power.

Roaring in fury, lightning engulfed Laxus. He shot several strikes at her, Lyla dodging each one as she jump from the pillar, to the floor, to the wall and back. She jumped off the pillar when the lightning stopped, ready to kick him, but instead merged into his shadow below his feet.

He didn't know about this ability, so ge scanned the room for a shadow wizard. Lyla came from behind and cast a spell.

"Shadow Make: Lance!"

Laxus jumped out of the way, but a few scratched him. Lyla spun so he always faced him and he couldn't attack her from behind. "Do you have any idea what you're throwing away? What a precious thing you have?" She growled.

"Quite a trick you got their." Laxus grinned and ignored what she said. "Too bad that won't help you!" His body became lightning and he traveled through the air, spinning around Lyla. She waited for him to do something, but he only closed in on her.

"RAGH!" She slammed her palm onto the floor, a magic circle appearing beneath them and fists made of shadow punching Laxus as they flew into the air. Before falling back down, he shot a lightning bolt that electrocuted Lyla.

She screamed in pain, it hurt to move as her skin fried. She could tell by the evil grin on his face that he thought he won.

"Don't go getting cocky yet, bastard!" She growled. Sprinting at him, Laxus slid to the side to dodge. She was counting on him to so that and drop to the floor, spinning on one leg while she knocked him over with the other. She extended her hand to create a dark hole for him to fall into. "You have a loving family. One that will do anything for you, including beat sense into you."

He fell in, another whole appearing in the sky above. Laxus came crashing down through the roof, leaving a dent in the stone flooring.

Furious, Laxus stood up and pumped his fist into the air. Lyla braced herself as lightning formed around his arm.

"Resound, my summoned thunder's bloom… Fall from the heavens and turn all to ashes!" A sphere of lightning grew and left his hand, floating above Lyla. She summoned a magic circle beneath hear, trying to create a dome of shadow to block the attack. There's no way she could dodge it without using too much magic.

"Raging Bolt!" The sphere came down, Lyla shut her eyes and ducked as the dome vanished from the light. She heard the lightning zap. Dust covered everything.

To her and Laxus's surprise, she was fine. Gajeel leaned on the railing on the second floor of the church, his arm around her midsection to hold her.

"That's not nice, trying to wipe out a guildmate like that." The iron dragon slayer said to the lightning wizard.

"Mind letting me down?" Lyla grunted in pain. She never expected Gajeel, of all bastards, to save her.

He landed on the floor and let the girl free.

"Another snack shows up." Laxus chuckled to himself.

"Gajeel, Natsu." Lyla raised her voice, trying to catch her breath at the same time, "You guys need to work together to beat this guy. I'm out for the count." Not really, but she was on the verge of actually killing him. The man had a knife scratch running down his chest as proof. If she kept fighting him, her knives could do some serious damage.

"What?! I said I'd fight Laxus! First you interfere and now I gotta team up with this loser?" The Salamander exclaimed in anger. Lyla was surprised he was conscious long enough to hear what's been going on. Her metal boots had hit him hard enough to knock him out the whole fight.

"We'll team up." Gajeel said. Natsu was shocked at this.

With a growl, Salamander agreed. "Okay, but I'm only teaming up this once!"

Lyla smiled, but her mask hid it. She then ran off to go find Laura. Looking up at the sky, Thunder Palace had been destroyed. She hoped Erza was okay. She had Laura come with her too, so other wizards must've helped in destroying them.

She found Laura lying on the ground, her skin hot to the touch. "You okay?" She asked the older woman.

Laura grunted in pain. "Yeah, I tried using as little magic as possible so my ears don't get worse."

She smiled, lowering her mask, "Let get you to the infirmary. Since Erza isn't stone anymore, I assume that the rest of the Miss Fairy Tail pageants are back to normal, too." She knew her friend was lying and appreciated the effort, so she didn't comment.

"And that concerns me why?" Laura asked as Lyla helped her up.

"Because Mirajane can help your wounds now."

"Oh yeah. Guess you got a point there."

A white light grew from the church in the distance. Lyla felt this magic before; A spell Master Makarov had casted back when Phantom Lord attacked.

"What is this?" Laura asked as the light grew bright enough to blind the whole town. Lyla waited until the light dimmed into nothing to open her eyes. Silence fell between them.

A strange feeling settled into Lyla's chest. She had no idea what it meant.

"That… That was Fairy Law. It's a spell the master once cast. It inflicts massive damage to anyone the caster sees as an enemy. Makarov has no use in using it, so Laxus must've been the caster." She ignored the feeling.

"We're not in the slightest bit of pain besides what we got beforehand."

"Exactly. Meaning Laxus really cares for everyone here." She sighed, "That also means there's no point in fighting him."

"Just curious, but if you could cast Fairy Law, who would be affected by it?" Laura asked, walking back to the guild.

"Obviously the Raijin Tribe, including Laxus."

"Keep in mind that I know whether you're lying or not." She called back.

Huh?


	23. Chapter 23

The guild cheered and celebrated in joy in the guild hall. Natsu and Gajeel successfully defeated Laxus, but they sat to the side, completely covered in bandages. Lyla didn't mind that, though. Bandages were wrapped around Natsu, so she didn't have to listen to his childish voice.

"I can't believe I got beaten by Max of all people…" Sorren complained, sipping his booze. Lyla made sure to keep him check since the Fantasia parade would begin in a few hours.

"I can't believe you lasted as long as you did." Laura retorted.

"Hey!" He shook his fist at her. "I'm not that weak!"

"Girls, girls, calm down." Lyla spoke up, "We got a parade coming up. Let's try to get along until then."

"Uh, excuse me, but there's only one girl out of the two of us, and I'm looking right at them." Laura pointed to Sorren, who growled in frustration. Lyla thought it was adorable.

"Oh, Laura. What will you be doing for the parade?" The teen asked.

"I'm not participating. You know how my ears get when spellcasting."

"What do your ears have to do with magic?" Sorren asked in bitter confusion. He was still pouting from the insults.

"None of your business." The older teen snapped viciously.

Lyla translated so he wouldn't snap back, "This isn't something she wants to talk about. We've all had a long day, so we should avoid subjects like this."

The whole guild fell silent when a certain Lightning wizard walked through the doors. The dragon slayers had told everyone that Laxus was actually a Lightning Dragon Slayer, which shocked even Lyla.

He asked to see Makarov. Some of the wizards refused while others sat and stared like Lyla, Laura, and Sorren. Lyla's emotions fluctuated. She had learned that he had a lacrima implanted into him by his father, who thought he wasn't strong enough. That knowledge alone had her rubbing her scar.

Then there was Natsu… He challenged Laxus, but needed Gajeel to translate since his mouth had been bandaged shut. He seemed to be the only one to understand Salamander.

Erza eventually let Laxus see his grandfather while everyone else got ready for Fantasia.

By night fall, Laura and Lyla sat on the sidelines with Gajeel as they watched the parade. Gajeel didn't feel like it, either. The girls found their own spot to chat and laugh. Gajeel talked to Makarov before the old man had to go and perform for the parade.

"Having fun at Fairy Tail?" Lyla asked over the cheers from the crowd and the music from the parade.

"I mean, it's loud."

The girl laughed in response. "Yeah, that's for sure! Sure is family, though."

"I suppose… It'd be nice to see our real parents though."

"As far as I'm concerned, my parents are the wizards older than me, and my siblings are those around my age."

"Whatever floats your boat." Laura leaned back on the wall.

"Hey, Laura." Lyla began, "If you were to cast Fairy Law, who'd be affected?"

"...What?"

"You heard me."

"Hehe… Well, I don't really hate anyone, but probably Sorren. He's annoying and a child."

"Keep in mind that I know whether you're lying or not!" Lyla giggled. Laura clearly had no clue what she meant by that.

When Master Makarov held his hand up and pointed to the sky, Lyla excused herself from her friends.

She melted into the shadows and reappeared behind Laxus. He was watching the parade from an alley.

"Are you ok?" She asked him quietly.

The man scoffed. "Why should you care?"

"Because I care about people. And for what it's worth, I'm sorry."

"For what? The injuries? Because I deserve those." He turned and glared at her. She smiled at him.

"Not that," she sighed. "You do deserve those. I'm sorry for almost killing you. I almost looked at you with my right eye. And don't tell me you don't know who I am."

"Yoru, the dark shadow with a poisonous stare. Only those with a powerful enough magic power or will to live can survive their deadly stare," he mocked. "I really thought such a terrifying assassin would be more…" He uselessly gestured at her.

"I'm not much, but I'm definitely deadly. And…" her body disappeared into the shadows, "I'm sorry for the pain you live with. It's not easy having a foreign magic implanted inside you."

He didn't answer and she returned to her friends.

When Laura asked where she had gone, she answered, "I grabbed donuts." She offered one of the sugary treats to her friend.

"Sweet." Laura grabbed it and began to eat.

Why are emotions so confusing? Lyla asked herself before she enjoyed the rest of the evening with her friend.

_

The sounds of explosions echoed in the white halls. The older and younger girl bolted down them. The men taking them to their rooms were too busy trying to escape themselves to bother with them.

"This way!" The older girl shouted, leading the other. They struggled to keep their balance with the rumbling and shaking of the building.

"No time!" The younger girl held her hand out, a blast of shadow magic shooting through the wall. "Jump!"

And both girls did. The fell several stories down, screaming as they neared the floor of the sandy desert.

The older girl hugged the younger one. She extended her hand and created a crystalized slide. They slid down the rough slide painfully. Her ears rang and began bleeding. She couldn't freeze the sound for long.

They reached the bottom and tumbled through the sand. They coughed and ran further away from the building. Smoke from fire filled their stinging lungs. They ran until they couldn't see the building anymore and fell to rest.

Both girls gave exhausted cheers. They were finally free.

"So this is what the sky looks like?" The younger girl asked. She'd been to the R System before, but never looked up. The guards wouldn't let her

"It's been so long since I've seen the world." The older girl breathed. They both admired the night sky, filled with twinkling stars and a shiny white moon.

Maybe they could finally live peacefully.

_

Lyla woke up slowly. The dream haunting her thoughts.

The sky was gray and a tinge of pink rising from the horizon. She got up from bed and walked to the bathroom. She took a long bath and got dressed. She slumped downstairs into the kitchen and began cooking scrambled eggs. The smell must've woken up Laura, because she came downstairs not long after.

"That for both of us?" Laura asked through a yawn.

"Sure. We'll have to buy some more food after, though. We used our supplies up fast." She stirred the scrambled eggs before serving them.

They were usually good shopping every other week, but they had a small feast with Sorren, Lucy, and the others to celebrate Fantasia. Natsu needed all that food after getting beat up like that, and Erza ate the rest of the strawberry cake they had bought.

"We're not going to the bakery this morning?"

Lyla shook her head, "Wouldn't be fun. Sorren's spending the day with his family, so we won't see him 'till tomorrow."

"Can't believe you hang out with him. He drinks too much."

"Cana's worse."

Lyla plated the eggs and set one plate on the coffee table in front of the couch Laura laid on. She sat in the floor by her friend's feet and ate her own plate.

They stayed up so late last night for the parade, they woke up later than usual and felt more groggy.

When they finished eating, they got ready to go to the market. The Harvest Festival lasted a little longer than the parade, so there were plenty of stalls with fresh produce to buy.

"Hey, Laura?" Lyla asked as they walked to town. "Do you remember when we were kids? When we first met, I mean."

"Yeah. Why? What's with that worried tone?"

She shook her head, "Do you think everyone died during that explosion when we escaped?"

Laura sighed, "I don't know. Maybe some of the employees were sick that day."

The teen left it at that. She didn't want to worry Laura or herself, but she hoped that there were some people who survived.

Lyla shook the melancholy thoughts off and enjoyed her time of quiet with her friend. It wouldn't last long, since they were in Fairy Tail.


	24. Chapter 24

Lyla lay on the roof of the guild, sadly staring at the gray sky. It was beginning to become chilly, so her excess clothing -as said by Sorren- was necessary.

The giant battle that had resulted from idiots had turned out fine with no casualties, but Lyla felt the heaviness that could have been. She was no stranger to death. Her past had ensured that. The guild continued to party and act normal, but some of them understood the weight of their situation.

The Magic Council of Earthland had contacted her. They had felt the disturbance from the use of the Lightning Palace and Fairy Law. They almost ordered her to kill whoever created it until she explained the situation. In short, they hadn't been happy. Her thoughts continued down the dark path they were on, spiraling out of control.

"Lyla! Where are you?" Sorren's voice, filled with delight, broke her out of the dark spiral. "Mira wants to talk to you!"

The teenager surreptitiously wiped away the dampness on her cheeks. She began to nimbly scale down from her perch on the roof, onto a balcony, and inside. From there she returned to the main hall like a normal person.

"What do you want, Jane?" The young woman asked quietly. The older wizard jumped slightly.

"Lyla. I have the perfect job for you!" The woman feigned nonchalance. Since the fight, some people had been unsettled by the dark aura surrounding the shadow mage. "If you want it."

"I'll take it. I need a break from… all of this." Lyla murmured and took the flier. It was a job to find and take back a relic from a bunch of thieves. It seemed simple enough for one person to take care of. Especially someone stealthy like her.

Mirajane clapped. "I'll write down that you took it. Are you taking anyone else along?"

"No." The request flier disappeared into a pocket. "I'm leaving today. I don't know when I'll be back. Tell Laura." Lyla told her before disappearing into the shadows.

"I will." Mirajane said to thin air. The girl was already gone.

The shadow wizard reappeared in her home and set about gathering the stuff she would need.

The sack on her back contained enough rations for several weeks, her knives, changes of clothing, and her communication lacrima. After that was all done, she wrote a note for Laura telling her where she was going and all that. A small pile of jewel was left beside it to tide her friend over. Laura didn't have a steady income, unlike Lyla.

With those done, she headed out the door and walked into the woods. Walking and moving with magic were far more pleasant ways to travel than by train.

Three days later, Lyla had encountered a surprise. She wasn't sure if it was unpleasant, or pleasant. The strange feeling in her chest was back of course.

She was well away from Magnolia by now, courtesy of her magic, so there was no problem with that.

"What are you looking at me like that for, pipsqueak?" Laxus demanded. They had encountered each other when Laxus entered the hut Lyla planned to stay the night in. On top of that, a storm rolled in so he couldn't leave. It turned out that Sparky was a literal living lightning rod.

"I just didn't expect to encounter you of all people, Laxus," she spoke just loud enough for him to hear.

He scowled, "Well who did you expect?"

"Nobody. I traveled this way to be alone." The teen gestured to her bag. "Start a fire, would you?"

"What do you think I am, your slave?" He growled, not moving an inch.

She didn't look at him as she began to dig through her bag. "I just thought your magic was far more suited to starting a fire than mine," she shrugged. "I guess you don't want hot food. And I don't see you with enough to feed yourself anyway." His stomach growled at that moment, as if to emphasise her point.

The man grumbled something before lighting the fire. Lyla walked over with some supplies and began cooking something. Enjoying the warmth, Laxus sat against the wall near the fire. His clothes were soaked from the rain.

When Lyla went to give him a plate of food, he had taken off his shirt and laid it by the fire. The teen jumped and nearly dropped the food.

"Here." She shoved the plate into his hands, snatched her bowl, and sat in the corner. It took her a moment to pull her mask down and eat.

The lightning wizard gave her a strange look. She didn't see it since she was still keeping her face hidden.

"Thanks for the food. It's good." He complimented. He had changed, maybe not a lot, but at least a little already.

"You're welcome." She glanced up at him. "Sorry about the scar." The cut down his chest wasn't healed yet, but it was obvious that there was going to be a scar. Her cheeks were flushed. He shrugged uncaringly.

They ate in silence. Lyla continually glanced at him with a strange expression.

"What is it now?" He demanded brusquely. The weird looks were obviously getting on his nerves.

The teen glared at him. "I'm sorry that I'm curious. Do you have any idea how weird it is to be in the same room as you right now?" she snapped. "I nearly killed you and the fact that you're not dead is a strange thing for me. I don't go around nearly killing people. I kill them. It's really weird and frustrating." Her cheeks flushed again and she looked away.

He snorted. "It seems more like you're embarrassed than anything." He set aside his empty plate.

Lyla set down her empty dishes. "I'm not embarrassed like that." She was looking anywhere but him. "It's just that seeing _that_ ," she motioned at his chest, "really messes with my head." She rubbed the scar on her eye. It made her think of the lacrima inside of her eye and the strangeness of his presence.

"You're embarrassed by seeing my chest?" He began to laugh.

Her eye snapped to his. The shallow lightning shaped scar on his right eye caught her attention again. "I'm not embarrassed by that." She growled. "I'm embarrassed that I promised your grandfather I wouldn't kill you then I nearly did!" She covered her right eye and glared at him. His green eyes danced with mirth.

"That's it? You didn't nearly kill me, pipsqueak. That scratch wasn't enough to stop me at all," he laughed. Her brown eye crackled with anger. "You were too hurt to continue and let those two idiots beat me for you."

Her mouth twisted into a sneer. "I wasn't hurt nearly as badly as you think. I stopped myself and left because if I attacked you again, it would have been deadly." She yanked her shirt up with her left hand and revealed a tapestry of scars across her stomach. Among them were healing lightning burns. Proof that she had only been minorly injured "I would recommend you shut up before I decide to kill you." Her words were filled with murderous intent. "And my name is Lyla. Not pipsqueak, _Sparky_."

Up until this point, she had been polite and called him by his name, but now he was irritating her far more than he should have been able to. The teen fixed her shirt, grabbed the dishes, and walked outside. She used the rain to clean the food off of the wooden dishes and cool off her mounting temper. Her clothes stayed dry under a dome of shadow magic as she listened to the sounds of the storm around her.

"It's not his fault. You can't kill him. It'd be a mess, and you'd get in trouble with the Council," she spoke quietly to herself. "Not to mention how angry Master Makarov would be. And how upset the Raijin would be. And how upset I'd be." She paused and asked herself, "Why would I be so upset?" She had already ruined her good streak by stealing the tea from that illicit dealer, so there was no reason for her to get upset about that. She continued to listen to the storm in silence.

Finally, she came to a conclusion. "I'd be upset because I'd never understand why I act so weird around him. And he might understand the pain of having a lacrima implanted inside him." Unconsciously, she traced the scar over her right eye. She moved her hair and opened her eye to gaze out at the forest. It was odd to have both eyes open, since she kept her right eye closed to protect people from that painful death.

Another couple of minutes passed before she went back inside. Laxus was relaxing in the same spot, totally unbothered.

"Sorry, _Lyla_." He said with emphasis on her name.

"I'm shocked. You are actually an adult that can apologize." She snarked as she pulled out stuff to make tea. The dishes they used were set aside to dry. When she had started boiling a kettle of water, she turned to him.

"Don't." He stopped her. "I don't deserve an apology." That startled a laugh from her. The look he gave her didn't bother her in the least.

She smiled, "If you don't deserve apologies, then what about me?" A look of utter shock covered his handsome features. _Wait, handsome? What?!_

She quickly apologized while he was processing and sat as far away from him as she could. When the kettle finally whistled, Laxus didn't flinch. He looked like he was deep in thought. Probably trying to think of every horrible thing that he now knew she had done.

The teen quickly poured the water over the leaves into two mugs. She set them aside to allow them to steep and settle back into her corner.

Lyla rested her head on her knees and closed her eyes. Being so emotive was draining.

When Laxus noticed that Lyla wasn't paying attention, he began to stare at her. She was obviously tired. Far more than she had been earlier.

"Can you not stare at me?" She asked without moving to look at him.

Laxus didn't answer and kept staring at her. The shadow wizard shifted uncomfortably, but didn't look up. Being stared at wasn't something she was used to on a regular basis. Not many people stared at her for any other reason than her clothes. His stare felt much heavier than the judgemental ones of people who had no idea who or what she was.

"The tea is probably ready," she muttered. Moving slowly, she stretched and walked over to the mugs. Lyla picked up one and returned to the dark corner. Laxus grabbed the other mug without getting up since it wasn't too far for him to reach.

Neither of them said anything as they drank. It was a very good tea.

"You stole this," her companion broke the silence with a statement. It was completely calm.

Lyla nodded and continued to sip her tea. Not a glance was spared for him.

"I guess it's nothing compared to all the people you've murdered." He acted nonchalant, but there was a hidden tone of accusation.

The younger wizard shrugged. "I mean, you can call it murder. It was actually a legal assassination. I work for the Magic Council. The one for all of Earthland, not Fiore. I just chose to live here for my own reasons." She still didn't look at him.

"Call it what you want, you've still killed people. Innocent people." He baited her.

She set her empty cup down and continued to stare ahead. "I've never killed an innocent person on purpose. I don't regret what I've done if that's what you're getting at." She met his eyes for a moment. Guilt filled her visible eye.

The Dragon Slayer infused wizard set his cup down. "I was more getting to, why didn't you stop me before? You're strong enough."

"Now you acknowledge my strength." She sighed. "Anyway, you are one of those people. If I had beaten you up, you would have just become angry. No one could reason with you when you activated your dragon slaying magic through anger. If you beat me up, I could reason with you. I didn't count on getting so upset that I..." she trailed off and met his eyes again. Her feelings of guilt were clear. "It all worked out anyway." She began to clean up her mess and put everything away.

Laxus followed suit and before long, they banked the fire. A wall of purple magic surrounded Lyla for a minute before disappearing. She curled up between her bag and the wall, a pile of white bandages beside her.

Laxus' snoring, accompanied by the storm, kept the teen awake most of the night. The other wizard's strong magical power didn't help either.

SO... I know I haven't updated in a couple of weeks. The reason is, I started a job. It takes up a lot of my time... and with school starting soon, the schedule probably won't stay consistent. I'll try to keep it normal, but it might not happen. Sorry for this and sorry in advance.


	25. Chapter 25

The next day, Lyla woke far earlier than she should have. A strange dream had woken her, but she couldn't remember it. It was most likely a nightmare of one of her more unpleasant memories. Laxus was still snoring away.

She got up, relit the fire manually, and began to prepare breakfast. She made enough for the two of them since Laxus had no food. At least she had manners.

By the time the lightning wizard woke up, Lyla had finished her food and cleaned up. She was wearing a clean set of clothes.

"Good morning, shitty hair." The teen chuckled. His hair was a wild mess from the humidity. Not that her hair had been any better, but he didn't need to know that.

"Hmm?" He hummed tiredly and rubbed his face. "Evergreen, what... " he cleared his throat when he realized who he was talking to. "Lyla. Morning." He greeted brusquely.

The younger wizard smiled softly. "Your breakfast is beside the fire. It might not be warm anymore." She warned. The flush on Laxus' cheeks was worth her bad sleep. It proved that he did care about some people.

He picked it up and began to eat. While he was eating, he tried to subtly fix his hair. The shadow mage ignored him in favor of double checking her bag.

"When you finish eating, clean your dishes. We're leaving after that," she directed.

"Why should I go with you?" He asked sharply between mouthfuls.

"The closest town is another two weeks worth of walking. That's where I need to be, and you need food. I have enough food to get both of us there." She didn't bother to look at him as she continued to make sure everything was set for them to leave. Lyla muttered to herself as she finished, "You'll slow me down a lot though."

Laxus' head whirled around and he glared at her. "Excuse me?"

"Hm," she shrugged noncommittally. "I forgot about your enhanced senses."

"What do you mean I'll slow you down?" He snarled, dropped his dishes, and stood up threateningly. "I bet you're the one that will slow _me_ down."

"Do you want to fight me?" She still didn't look at him. When he didn't answer, she reminded him, "Clean your dishes. If you break them, it will only make traveling much harder."

"Tch," he scoffed and picked up the dishes he had dropped and stomped outside. Lyla waited a moment before following him outside. There were no traces of them being here now.

"Let's go." She continued past Laxus. He didn't follow immediately.

Over the next several days, their travel had been tense and unpleasant for the most part. It was obvious that they were both uncomfortable.

Conflicts had popped up very often and they argued as the walked. The only reason that Laxus continued to travel with her was because she was sharing her food and actually knew how to get to the town. He made that very clear to Lyla.

The breaking point occurred when Laxus told her, "You're obviously so weak because of that scar. On top of that, you're half-blind." They had been arguing about something and he had said that. Things rapidly went downhill.

Lyla flinched away before snapping back, "And you're so weak that you got that damn scar on your face."

"I got that in an unfair fight. I was outnumbered and came out with only a scar," he bragged. "How did you get yours, _pipsqueak_?" he taunted.

"None of your damn business. I would suggest you stick to getting your head out of your ass."

"But how can you be stronger than me and be unable to beat me then?"

"I told you! I could beat you with the element of surprise! Head on, I'd have a hard time!" There was no shame in someone being stronger than her.

"Are you sure?"

She forgot he could probably sense how powerful she was. "Not everyone can use their power freely," she huffed and sped up.

Laxus easily caught up. When he spoke again, his tone was gentler, "What do you mean?"

Her voice dropped as she spoke, "Some people can't handle the sheer amount of magical power in their body." She fell silent and rubbed the scar on her face. After that, they actually seemed to be friendly.

One night, while they were eating by a fire, Lyla commented, "We acted like Laura and Sorren."

"Who?"

The teen began to laugh. "They're my friends. They fight all the fucking time. It's hilarious."

"And?"

"We were acting like them. Now… we're more like… I guess how you treat the Raijin Tribe."

He cleared his throat. "How were they?"

"They still stick together and all that, but they're more friendly. I think they were going to go on a job together. Also, Makarov tried to retire, but Freed stopped him. The green-haired idiot also chopped his hair off." she continued to talk about what had happened in the guild after he had left. Mostly Natsu and Gray starting giant fights. "It's shocking how many more fights he started with insults when he couldn't insult Gray. Ridiculous."

"How? Gajeel was the only one that could understand him, right?"

"Gajeel didn't translate the insults, Natsu just used his natural penchant for getting beat up."

They continued to chat about the guild. Lyla learned a lot about the guild from when he was a teenager.

When they laid down to sleep, Lyla realized that she didn't mind being near him as much as she had before. On top of that, the urge to fix her 'mistake' was gone. She didn't want any harm to come to him.

When they got to the town, they didn't part ways until after Laxus helped her out with her job. He told her it was in apology for taking her food. Lyla was sad to see him go, carrying a copy of her map.

"I guess that means we're friends, because I'm always sad to see them go." She muttered. Laxus wasn't a bad guy, he was just in a bad spot.

She would have to stick around in town for another day before the next train would arrive. It wasn't worth it to do that, so she decided to begin walking. This time, with no destination. She had plenty of food.

Before she began her wandering, she contacted Mirajane at the guild. "Jane!" She greeted with false cheer. The woman was shocked that Lyla was contacting her. "I have no idea when I'll be back to the guild. I'm calling to let you know that and that I've already completed the job. Tell Laura for me, please."

"I'll do that, Lyla. It was nice to hear from you." Mirajane said cheerily as always. "Stay safe."

"I will." Lyla's eye crinkled with a genuine smile when she heard the loudness of the guild. "You guys try to keep it down."

The white haired wizard laughed. "We'll try."

"Bye."

"Bye."

Lyla cut off the connection. Satisfied and cheered up, she began to walk into the dark forest.

A shadow slipped through the cracks in their defences easily. The assassin guild was silent as an even deadlier assassin lurked in their midst.

One after another, they died quietly. No one found out until it was too late, the poisonous black blade already buried in their bodies. The shadow's black clothing dripped with red as they walked out of the ramshackle hall. No one was left alive in that viper's nest.

In a few hours, someone from the newly reformed Magic Council would arrive to clean up and hide this from the public. It was just one of the things that occurred regularly.

Lyla sat by a river, crying. She was wearing her normal clothes and staring at her hands. The skin was raw as she tried to scrub at them again. The warm feeling of blood soaking through her clothing wouldn't go away. The sight of hope draining from people's eyes haunted her vision.

It had been too long since she had such a brutal mission and the guilt was overwhelming. It wasn't from the deaths she had just caused. It was from not saving the poor people she had seen in there. Their victims begged her, covered head to toe in black with nothing other than a deadly aura to tell who she was and dripping with blood. They had begged her to save them from hell, to put them out of their misery, and she had just walked on.

The teenager wasn't even sure where she was other than that she was deep in a forest. She had just rushed as far away from that place as she could. She had stopped at the river to clean herself up. She now looked like her normal self, the bloody garb washed and put away, but she didn't feel right. The hopelessness wouldn't let her mind rest as she tried to sleep.


	26. Chapter26

Lyla stood with Mirajane and Reedus. They stared at the chart of dark guilds drawn by a light pen. They were becoming more active and Mirajane said Fairy Tail might need to strengthen relationships in order to stop them. The girl was all for it.

A few more wizards started gathering around. The empty guild didn't leave much else for them to do.

Laura stood beside her, not moving her eyes from a specific point on the chart. Lyla followed her gaze to the circle with the Baram Alliance. There were three guilds listed in that circle; Oracion Seis, Tartaros, and Grimoire. The girl has heard of all three of these before. She's never dealt with Grimoire, but the other two lit a small flame. Especially Oracion Seis.

That guild only had six members, but they were more powerful than the wizards in this room combined. Not even Lyla could stand up to their guild master…

Makarov entered the room, Lyla knowing when he spoke. "About that Oracion Seis, we must attack them."

The room fell into a heavy silence.

"Welcome back, Master!" Mirajane greeted. Lyla facepalmed while the rest expressed their feelings in their own way.

"Jane, I think you missed the point," She said, placing her hand on her shoulder.

After Erza asked for some clarification, Makarov responded with, "At the regular meeting the other day, we discussed the recent activity by Oracion Seis. As it is not something we can ignore, we decided that some guild has to fight them.

"Fairy Tail will take that role?" Juvia asked.

"No… The enemy this time is too powerful. If it were only us, then afterward the Baram Alliance would retaliate only here."

He had a point. If it would take all of the guilds to defeated just six wizards, there would be two more guilds ready to attack. They were strong, but a lot could lose their lives. Lyla couldn't live with more blood in her life.

"We have formed an Alliance ourselves." The master continued, "Fairy Tail, Blue Pegasus, Lamia Scale, and Caitshelter."

Natsu retorted with his overconfident self, saying he could defeat them all on their own. Lyla would hit him, but Erza beat her to it. Laura just sighed behind her.

While Lucy questioned just how powerful Oracion Seis were, Lyla took a step forward to announce, "I'm coming! I want to keep this guild safe!"

Makarov sighed, "I have already chosen who will go, and it's not you."

Furrowing her eyebrows, Lyla took her step back and crossed her arms. He hasn't chosen all of them yet, he just knew she had other intentions.

Laura walked up to her, saying, "Let's just go back to the house. I can cook something to eat."

Without a word, Lyla teleported back home. She walked upstairs into her room and started packing.

_

"Why do I have a feeling like something really bad is going to happen?" Lucy asked in a mix of worried and scared. She continued by questioning why she came along to fight Oracion Seis. She and the rest of the team sat in a cart with a driver taking them to the meeting place.

"It's not a picnic for me either, you know. Stop complaining" Gray stated.

"The Master chose who went." Erza added, "Shouldn't we be happy he trusts us with this duty?"

Lucy pointed out Juvia and Gajeel's ability. Happy pointed out they had other jobs. Meanwhile, Natsu was dying from motion sickness.

"So… Are we… there yet?" Salamander begged. He might as well be a corpse.

Lyla turned around from the driver's seat, "Yep! I see the meeting place just up ahead!" She grinned, her mask lowered.

The whole cart exclaimed in shock, except for Natsu.

"What are you doing here?!" Happy exclaimed.

"Driving, obviously. Laura's here too." The girl pointed up. Laura's head popped down to agree with her. She's been lying on top of the roof of the cart the whole drive.

"You are too loud and annoying. My ears hurt." She stated.

"Nice to see you too, I guess," Lucy replied with, a little hurt.

They stopped the ride and got off. Lyla had to drag Laura off.

"Snuck all the way over here. Might as well see what this place is all about." Lyla said, opening the doors to a large unlit room.

"This is Master Bob's villa, from Blue Pegasus," Erza stated. Lyla agreed with her. It made sense with the pink details and heart-shaped wall lights.

"Are we there yet?" Natsu asked, still dying even though he sat on a still carpet.

"Yes, you have arrived!" A voice answered. Two other voices echoed "Arrived!" They then broke out into a little chant with the sound of a tambourine in the background

A spotlight shined down to show three men in front of the group. "Sorry to keep you waiting!" They apologized.

"We…"

"...are the representatives chosen…"

"...from Blue Pegasus,"

"Trimens!" The three of them finished at once.

They then introduced themselves with a little flare. Hibiki had dark blond hair and brown eyes, Ren had dark brown hair and was the tallest, and Eve had blonde hair, blue eyes, and seemed to be around the same age as Lyla. He's younger than her personality-wise.

Laura sighed, "We have to team up with these idiots?"

Lyla gave a weak chuckle in response. Eve came up to Lyla, who was surprisingly shorter than her. Weren't guys supposed to be taller?

"Your eyes look so beautiful." He complimented in a soft voice.

"Thanks…" A little weirded out, Lyla started to pull up her mask.

"Why cover your face? You look so cute."

Flustered, she stuttered, "L-look, I get we're the same age, but you're not my type." How was she supposed to react?!

Laura smirked devilishly. "What, you can take down a whole guild with one spell, but can't handle a compliment?" She teased. Ren then came up behind her, whispering something in her ear. A fists up his jaw paid him back.

Lyla restrained her before she could do any more damage. Neither of them were really sure of these Blue Pegasus guys…

Hibiki talked to Erza, and Ren moved to Lucy. Lyla tried making it clear she didn't like the flirting, but Eve continued anyways…

The four girls were seated on a fancy couch. The three guys kneeled as Hibiki said, "Come… You must be tired from your long journey. Spend tonight with us…"

"Forever!" The three of them finished together.

Neither Lucy, nor Laura, nor Erza, nor Lyla, really knew what to do.

"Guests." An older voice spoke as it walked down the stairs, "Stay right where you are."

"What's that silky smooth voice?" Lucy asked, her heart pounding.

"It's Ichiya," Ren answered.

"I-Ichiya?" Erza shook. Did she have a history with him?

"It has been quite a while, Erza."

Yeah… Yeah, they did have history. Ichiya was a short, short man with red hair and a cleft chin with a hint of stubble. He slid down the railing of the stairs at his toes. The trio shot confetti as the four of them continued with their strange introductions. Laura's disdain for them crept into Lyla. They were definitely an odd bunch and probably had more than one girlfriend within a month.

Ichiya ordered the trio to clean up, and they did. He seemed to be the leader of the team.

He sniffed for some reason, then shouted to Lucy, "Excellent parfum!" while trying to look attractive and cool. No one fell for it. Whatever charm these guys had before was long gone…

"Listen up, you crappy Blue Pegasus boy-toys!" Gray butted in, "How about you stop making' passes at our princesses, huh?"

"Your princesses?" Lyla said in a sassy tone, "Excuse me, bitch, I'm my own queen." She posed sassily too.

"You men can go home now," Ichyia replied to Gray with a flat tone.

"Thanks for coming!" Hibiki bowed. The other two echoed him.

"They send posers like you on an important mission?! I could wipe the floor with you!" He retorted.

"A fight? Let me join!" Salamander intervened, bouncing back from his zombie-like state.

Lyla couldn't help but noticed Ichiya getting a little close to Erza. She'd have to keep her own personable bubbled extra safe.

In spite, Erza ended up slapping the man on his cheek so strong that she ended up slapping him across the room. He would've hit the main doors if a certain ice wizard hadn't frozen his head. No, it wasn't Gray.

"This is quite the greeting." Lyon said, "You consider yourselves equal to Lamia Scale?"

While the two ice wizards tried comprehending each other's presence, Natsu was excited that Lyon had decided to join a guild. Lyla didn't entirely know what to think of this situation, but she was too busy quickly summarizing their history with him to Laura to think about it anyways.

Lyon threw Ichiya across the room, the ice around his head shattering when he hit the ground. He tumbled on the floor some more before landing at the trio pegasus' feet.

"What the hell was that for?"

"What the hell are you doing?"

Gray and Lyla exclaimed at once. Ichiya has some perverted qualities, but he's an ally for this fight.

"He started it."

"What do you think you're doing with our General?" Ren asked, snarling. Lyla noticed Eve tearing up in anger.

Using an attack against Lucy with her magic, Sherry made her entrance. Did the Lamia Scale guys just hate these two guilds? The master really had to bring Lyon and Sherry?

Too many people, too many bad first introductions. A fight could break out at any second, and God help whoever Lyla ends up fighting.

A staff hit the floor, following a powerful voice that shouted "Cease this! We are making an alliance to defeat Oracion Seis!" It was a bald man with scaly green arm sleeves and clothes resembling some sort of Mayan culture? Lyla never had a strong suit in history.

"Jura…" Lyon said. Erza echoed him in the form of a question.

Hibiki explained, "He's the ace of the Lamia Scale… Rockiron Jura.

Lyla whispered to answer the question she knew Laura would ask, "He's one of the Ten Great Wizard Saints. Insanely strong."

After everyone explained his status as a wizard, Jura stated, "With this, three of the guilds have gathered. All that is left are the people from Caitshelter."

"People? I have heard it's only one person." Ichiya stated, dangling from the top of the staff Erza had requipped. They got into a little… disagreement with one's boundaries.

"They only sent one person for a mission as dangerous as this?" Gray exclaimed, wearing a shocked expression just like everyone else.

"Wait… How crazy dangerous is this guy?" Lucy asked, scared.

They all heard a shriek behind them. Turning around, it was a little girl with long blue hair. She wore a blue and yellow sundress.

"Ouchy..." The girl mumbled as she got up. She patted herself off and apologized for being late. "I'm Wendy Marvel, from Caitchelter. It's nice to meet everyone!"

Everyone fell into silence, in awe over the one person from Caitshleter being a girl younger than any of them.

Lyla glanced over to Lucy, "Jeez, Lucy, assuming the crazy strong wizard was a guy? Girls can be powerful, too, you know."

 **A/N:** Hey guys! Still not dead. I hope you guys are having a good New Year so far. As of today, me and my bestie are going to be posting again. Yay! We decided to post every other Monday. That will start soon, so enjoy. And stay awesome.


	27. Chapter 27

After the young girl introduced herself as Wendy Marvell and the shock had worn off, she explained her magic to be supportive. She mainly knew healing spells.

"All guilds are now present," Jura stated.

"You're just going to move on like that?!" Gray exclaimed.

Lyla walked up to the girl, kneeling to be closer at eye level. "You're magic is a lot like Natsu's. Salamander over there." She pointed, "Dragonslayer magic?"

Wendy nodded, then asked, "How did you know?"

"Let's just say I have a knack for sensing magic."

"Still, it's concerning she's the only one from Caitshelter…" Laura sighed.

To everyone's surprise, a white cat -similar to Happy, but dressed- came from behind Wendy and introduced herself as Carla. She had brown eyes and could talk just like the blue cat, who founded over her instantaneously.

Lyla turned back to Wendy, patting her head as she said, "You'll be fine. Magic isn't all about fighting."

With that, she stepped away from Wendy back to Laura, who grumbled over there being two talking cats. Happy was an annoying little brat, but that was unsurprising considering who raised him. Carla at least seemed to be more sophisticated and interesting.

It took Lyla several minutes to calm Laura down enough to stay still and listen to the plan. The others were at least being semi-useful and comforting Wendy.

The teens turned to a small square pad with stage lights on each corner. Ichiya made various poses while explaining the plan they had formed.

"First is the location where the Oracion Seis -the 'six demon generals'- have gathered…"

A quick moment of silence before the man shuffled away for a bathroom break. Lyla sighed. These pegasus folk were rivaling Fairy Tail's strange and odd personalities.

"What about you?" Laura asked and Lyla realized she mumbled her thoughts out loud.

"Heh, well, I'd say I'm more unique than odd." She put on another smug look, winking. It worked for hiding the worry from her friend, who rolled her eyes and looked away.

The sense of another's magic set her off a little. It followed Ichiya to the restrooms. It felt like Lucy's she didn't think much of it. There were so many wizards with so much magical energy that she couldn't be sure of anything.

A moment later, Ichiya returned and explained that they were going into the north in Woodworth Sea to find Nirvana, destructive magic supposedly sealed away by elders long ago. Lyla can't recall ever hearing of it, which mildly surprised her.

"There are twelve of us, and six of them." Hibiki started. "I mean fourteen." His eyes flicked over to Lyla and Laura for a moment.

"But we mustn't take them lightly." Eve followed.

"Those six are tremendously powerful." Hibiki then snapped his fingers. A golden screen and keyboard appeared beside him, then he began typing.

"Didn't you use that magic for a while?" Laura asked Lyla

Lyla nodded and said, "I haven't seen anyone use that in forever. I might still be able to use a data shield though. I wasn't the best at it anyway." She sounded deep in thought.

Six screens appeared in front of the group and Hibiki began to explain about the members. Lyla vaguely heard what he said, but she didn't care. She focused on one screen in particular. She had to forcefully suppress her magic as she ground her teeth. She had hoped to never see or hear from that man again unless it was to kill him.

When Hibiki began to talk about him, Brain, a man with dark skin, long white hair, and bizarre tattoos, Laura clutched Lyla's arm tightly. The teen didn't even realize she had moved, she just wanted to kill him.

The floating golden screens disappeared and Lyla took a deep breath to calm down. She hadn't even heard much of what was said.

"...they are unstoppable." Hibiki finished as his magic dissipated.

"Our only advantage is in numbers?" Lyla asked through gritted teeth with a barely suppressed growl.

Ichiya tried to reassure them while striking some weird poses, but Lyla wasn't paying attention. Aside from Laura, no one had noticed her anger.

"...and we will use Christina to eradicate them where they stand." Ichiya finished explaining and struck another dumb, flamboyant pose. Pegasus was already in the process of answering Lyla's question.

Christina happened to be a flying magical bomb. They would blow up Oracion's base of operation and hopefully kill a few. At least, that's what Lyla hoped.

Jura advised that no more than two people fought an enemy at a time. Lyla and Laura already found their partners for this little project.

"Okay! I'm all fired up!" Natsu burst through the front doors, darting down the dirt road as if he didn't just annihilate to large pieces of wood.

"My head hurts just being in the same room as him…" Laura grumbled, placing her fingers on her temples.

"Bitch, you don't even hang out with anyone."

She growled, "Let's just go."

Lyla nodded and followed Laura's tail as they ran with the rest of the wizards. Lyon, Sherry, and the pegasus boys were catching up to them.

"Have any idea where we're going?" Lyla asked quietly as they ran. Laura would hear either way.

"Nope. Salamander is the one leading right now. It's better to go randomly than sit around."

The young woman started to sense the magic similar to Lucy's. It couldn't be hers, though. It was still back at the meeting place.

"Lyla! The building!" Laura yelled. Several strange magics where there. She hadn't been wrong and now she had to pay for being too complacent.

"Go on. I'll take care of it!" The shadows surged around her violently and in an instant, she was back at the building.

Jura was writhing on the ground, in obvious pain. There was a pool of blood under him. Standing over him was a woman and two small blue people that looked like they had come from a comic book… or something. Lyla vaguely recognized the woman as Angel from the pictures Hibiki had shown -she was supposed to be a Celestial Spirit wizard so that made the thing a Celestial Spirit.

"How unexpected." The woman commented. "Gemini, take her down." The spirit moved towards Lyla.

"Bitch, not today. I'm so fed up with this bullshit." The young woman sighed. She cast her hand to Angel, her shadow stretching and slithering towards the woman. Getting this bitch out of the way would leave fewer distractions for the fight she looked forward to.

Gemini zipped past Lyla, brushing her arms. To her surprise, smoke floated around Gemini, the two blue spirits turning into a copy of herself. The copy reached down and took the slithering shadow, tugging on it and pulling the real Lyla to the ground.

The copy merged into its own shadow, hopping to the next one closer to Lyla. The original leaped up at the last second when the copy would have sliced open her with one of her hidden knives. Looks like Gemini can copy even what's not visibly seen on a person.

Lyla threw her knives down while she still rose into the air. The copy dodged them all except for the little red cut on its calf.

When the original landed on the ground, she immediately used a spell called Shadow Orochi. A magic circle appeared where her hand hit the ground and a swarm of shadow snakes shot out, targeting the copy. When the copy dodged, the snakes came back around and attacked it again.

The real Lyla took this chance to shadow hop towards Angel. The teen came flying in from the building's side, kicking her with her metal sole boots and leaving a nasty bruise.

"Haha! Bitch!" Lyla stuck her tongue out to mock Angel, flipping her off as icing on the cake.

Angel growled. "You're so classless! Hardly _half_ the perfection of my beauty!"

"Jeez… Ego much?"

A flash of white blinded Lyla when the Gemini copy punched her square in the jaw. She fell to the ground, her head hurting alongside her mouth.

When getting up and looking around dazedly, Angel and Gemini were gone. Lyla spit out some blood. Did that celestial spirit knock out a tooth? They seemed to be able to copy physical strengths too.

She stood up, wobbling a bit with her headache. The teen looked back at Jura, who lay on the ground in immense pain. The pool of blood had gotten bigger. She hurried to him the best she could without tripping and helped him up.

"What happened, exactly?" Lyla asked.

Jura grunted in pain, "Angel… Her celestial spirits copied Ichiya and used parfum to bring me into my current state. She stabbed me with a knife as well."

"Parfum? Is that his magic?" She thought out loud.

"Gemini used a bottle of an awful stench that caused whoever smelled it to experience any pain imaginable."

Lyla settled him down against the building, asking for Ichiya's whereabouts. Jura didn't know, but Lyla remembers Ichiya having to use the men's room. That has to be where Gemini made their move.

She clumsily ran up the stairs and to the restrooms, knocking on the door first. No response came when calling his name. She tried again and heard painful moaning. Gemini must have beat him up pretty bad.

"I'm coming in!" She warned, staring at the tiled floor as she entered. Everything had the same pink and white theme throughout the place.

Nearby the urinals laid Ichiya, completely beat up and barely conscious. The flooring had been broken around him, and he leaned against where a urinal should be, but only a pipe spewing water remained.

Lyla picked him up and took him to where she left Jura. If someone saw this, they might find it comical that a sixteen-year-old girl carried a barely four-foot man down the stairs.

The teen sighed, taking a quick breather. She stood up while the others rested. She wore a blank expression when staring at the unconscious Ichiya. Nothing happened for the next few seconds, just silence.

… Lyla lightly kicked the short man, shock passing over Jura's face. The teenager didn't say anything, still kicking him, slightly harder with each blow.

Nothing happened. Lyla slouched and sighed in the minor defeat. She then remembered Ichiya's strange fondness for Erza.

With the most dead tone and worst acting ever, Lyla exclaimed, "Oh no. Erza lost her skirt. We need some help in finding it."

The short man's head popped up, shouting, "Man!"

Lyla kicked him a little harder. "Pervert." Another, harder, kick before she continued. "At least tell me you've got a healing perfume or something?"

"Hm…" Ichiya rummaged through his test tube-shaped bottles of scents and smell, each owning different properties and effects.

He took out a green one, popping the cork off and letting the scent float into the air around them. They all took a deep breath of the sweet aroma.

Lyla's headache eased away and her jaw felt better. Her tooth had even healed. This was next-level stuff. She'd have been more than happy to study this magic if she hadn't discovered it from a pervert.

"Still have enough for the others?" The teen asked.

"Of course!" Ichiya made another pose, rooting through his jacket to pull out another healing parfum.

"Mind giving me any strength or magic enhancers? Laura and I will need them."

"What do you plan to do?" Jura asked.

She replied casually, "Beat up Brain, of course. Maybe kill him. I'm still deciding how slow I want his death to be. Can't be too nice."

Both men seemed concerned over this "child's" intentions. She noticed them and added a snap to her voice when she spoke again, "Hey, Brain is more powerful than you guys know. He's someone you wouldn't want to meet in a fight whatsoever, especially under these conditions. His pawns aren't so nice either."

"Any what makes you fighting him any different than the rest of us against him?" Jura asked.

"Me and Laura will be fighting him. We've met him before, and that's enough to go looking for his blood."

Her right eye started to twitch, laces of magic seeping out from it. She excused herself and hurried to the woman's bathroom.

"Strange girl," Ichiya commented.

Lyla slammed the door behind her -the door cracking and falling to the ground- and ran up to the nearest mirror, pulling her bangs out of her face. Her eye looked to be glowing as she watched wisps of magic drift out. She needed to keep her anger in check here. She watched black liquid drip from her eye and run down the scar over it.

"Shit!" She hissed. She swiped away the liquid from her burning eye and pulled her mask off. "What the hell is going on?" Her vision on the right side wavered as if she looked through a heatwave. Lyla put her mask back on in a different way so that it covered her right eye. She tucked hair over her still-visible scar so it was semi-hidden. Little wisps of magic still trailed from it, but at least she wouldn't do something horrible on accident. Only on purpose.

She needed to get back on track. Her friends were searching for one of the people she hated the most. The teen sneered at her reflection at the thought of him before running back out. She had to go help them somehow.

The door fell apart as she ran over it again. Not that a door mattered. Lyla ran outside and closed her eyes to search for her friends. Jura ran ahead a while ago, Ichiya only a little way behind.

She felt like conversing via her magic, so she only teleported to run next to Ichiya, who jumped at her sudden appearance. As she dipped through the magic, she had created small black hole looking things under all her knives and collected them.

"Get used to it. It's just a thing I do."

"I hope the other's are okay," the man said instead of complaining. A wise choice in Lyla's opinion.

"You got your healing parfum. They should be good." Agh… maybe she should try to cheer herself up more.

The two arrived at the battle just in time to see Jura using earth magic to cast pillars of rock to block a green spell. All the wizards were injured and down; Oracion Seis had vanished. Lyla ran up to Laura, falling to her knees and skidding to her friend.

"The hell happened to your ears?" Lyla asked, trying to smirk.

"A little temper tantrum is what happened," Laura admitted, her tone wavering as if she couldn't decide how loud she wanted to be. All that blood must be tampering with her hearing…

The other wizards gasped and mourned over Christina, which had been blown up by Oracion Seis. To everyone's relief, none had been on the bomb that could have died. The pegasus boys explained that Christina was remotely controlled and the alliance would only board it after finding the enemy's base.

Carla pointed out Erza, who's injured arm couldn't be healed by Ichiya's parfum. Lyla then noticed a missing Wendy and second talking cat. Some explaining would have to be done here.

The little girl stood tensely, ready to fight. Today, instead of fighting the other girl, she had to fight _him._ The man who was in charge of everything related to her stood in front of her. His lab coat, white shirt, and shoes were lying on the floor by the door, leaving his in only his black pants.

"Come at me whenever." He smiled down at her. Fear flooded her frame as she shifted warily. This wasn't the first time she had to fight him, but it was the first time she was going to use magic.

She swallowed quietly as she focused on his shadow with her magic. It began to rise, taking the form of a man similar to him, but not quite him. The color of the shadow changed from black to a deep purple, and finally to a red-green when the man started taking shape.

The Shadowman split off from the man's real shadow. That wasn't what she had wanted! It wrapped its hands around the man's throat when he turned to see why there was a movement back there. The Shadowman began to strangle the man.

"No!" It wouldn't listen to her and if she couldn't get her magic under control… She didn't want to think about that. "Stop!" Magic began to spark from her face. A scream of pain erupted from her as wisps of magic trailed from the bandages on her right eye. The magic flickered back and forth from black to purple as she screamed in pain and writhed on the floor.

None of the people in the cloaks were around because the man had dismissed them! The two men, one made of magic and shadows and the other flesh and blood, grappled on the floor as spells blasted from the man's hands. A spell struck near the girl and crawled back into a corner. Her right eye still burned, but she had stopped screaming and writhing.

The Shadowman roared the man's name and the man roared another name back. It barely registered as a number in the poor girl's mind as she cowered away from the deadly magics, one of them her own doing.

The man began to choke the Shadowman, who couldn't use any magic to fight back. Right before he disappeared, he looked at the little girl and said, "Thank you." When he disappeared, the burning and wisps of magic stopped as well. She curled up in a ball, sighing in relief. It was the worst pain she had ever experienced.

The man coughed before saying, "That certainly was an interesting experience." He walked over and picked the girl up gently. "You did well restricting the flow of magic. You've made so much progress." He congratulated her.

"Thank you." She croaked, her voice hoarse and painful. It didn't matter if it hurt to talk, if she didn't thank him after one of his 'lessons', she would be punished. Those punishments were far worse than the lessons.

"Good girl. Now let's go get you cleaned up." Her robes _were_ tattered. "I also have a gift for you for doing so well."

The girl thanked him again, her voice barely there. "You're welcome."

The thought of whatever he decided was chilling.

 **A/N:** I'm back! A little update on the schedule for updates. We'll be updating every first and third Monday of the month.


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